Luxury watchmakers plan for Brexit, cope with French protests

BASEL, Switzerland--Luxury watchmakers have joined the list of businesses implementing Brexit contingency plans by stockpiling inventory in Britain before it leaves the EU, industry leaders said. 

Brands are seeking to guard against "practical problems" that may emerge, including new customs procedures or import backlogs following Brexit, the head of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Jean-Daniel Pasche, told AFP at the Baselworld watch fair, which wrapped up this week. 

Statistics released by the federation this month showed that imports to Britain were up 58 percent in February, on top of a 24 percent increase in January. 

Oris, a luxury watchmaker that opened a store in London's Mayfair area last year, said it does not normally keep inventory in Britain, preferring to ship pieces to retailers to fill specific orders. 

But Oris chief executive Rolf Studer said the company had boosted its British stocks. 

"Nobody really knows what will happen, so we took precautions," he told AFP.

Non-EU member Switzerland and Britain have already signed a pact to preserve future trade relations, including provisions to ensure trade continuity if the UK leaves the bloc without a divorce deal. 

That bilateral agreement should ensure that watches imported directly to Britain by plane face no new restrictions, Pasche noted. 

But any goods travelling by road will have to pass through the EU and could therefore be held up by long queues at the British border, he said. 

Aside from possible import delays, Pasche highlighted another reason why watchmakers want to ensure that London retailers are well-stocked. 

If the British pound loses value, that could trigger a post-Brexit buying spree, with high-end shoppers notably in London seeking to benefit from favorable exchange rates, he said. 

When the pound's value fell after Britons voted to leave the European Union in 2016, luxury watch retailers saw a surge in sales among tourists, especially from Asia. 

The chief executive of iconic watchmaker Hublot, Ricardo Guadalupe, told AFP that his company has also increased its British-based inventory, describing London as "the locomotive" for the watch business. 

YELLOW VEST EFFECT 

Watch firms said the importance of limiting disruptions in London has become all the more vital because of setbacks in Paris caused by the "yellow vest" protesters who have staged weekly demonstrations around France since mid-November.

Hublot's shop at Place Vendome in central Paris has remained closed on Saturdays as demonstrators have taken to the streets over the falling spending-power of the working poor.

Guadalupe noted that traffic in Paris shops has "fallen drastically" amid the demonstrations.

Earlier this month, 91 shops including luxury outlets Bulgari were damaged, burned or looted on the famed Champs-Elysees avenue.

Bulgari's managing director Jean-Christophe Babin said in Basel that the company's employees on the Champs-Elysees had faced "permanent insecurity."

"For our teams, it is extremely stressful," he said.

There are concerns that tourism numbers to France could fall because of the protests, which began over fuel taxes but then snowballed into a revolt against the governing style and policies of President Emmanuel Macron.

Because luxury watch sales are heavily dependent on tourist traffic, most analysts expect watch imports to France to fall sharply over the course of the year. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Time runs out for smartwatch pioneer Pebble

SAN FRANCISCO - Smartwatch pioneer Pebble announced Wednesday it was shutting down, with tech wearables giant Fitbit acquiring some of its assets including key personnel.

"Due to various factors, Pebble is no longer able to operate as an independent entity. We have made the tough decision to shut down the company and no longer manufacture Pebble devices," Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky said in a statement.

Pebble, one of the early makers of connected watches which has sold some two million devices since launching in 2012, said that "many members of Team Pebble will be joining the Fitbit family to continue their work on wearable software platforms."

A separate statement from Fitbit said it had acquired "specific assets of Pebble, including key personnel and intellectual property related to software and firmware development," but not the company's hardware product.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

"With basic wearables getting smarter and smartwatches adding health and fitness capabilities, we see an opportunity to build on our strengths and extend our leadership position in the wearables category," said Fitbit chief executive James Park.

"With this acquisition, we're well positioned to accelerate the expansion of our platform and ecosystem to make Fitbit a vital part of daily life for a wider set of consumers, as well as build the tools healthcare providers, insurers and employers need to more meaningfully integrate wearable technology into preventative and chronic care."

Pebble was among the early developers of smartwatches, raising money on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform. Its 2015 drive raised a record $20.3 million.

The deal comes with Fitbit leading the pack of connected wearables makers, but with its stock slumping.

Fitbit shares rose slightly to $8.02, well off its highs last year above $50.

A report this week from research firm IDC shows Fitbit with 23 percent of the global wearables market in the third quarter, shipping some 5.3 million devices including fitness bands and smartwatches.

IDC said 85 percent of the market remains "basic" wearables with a single function such as fitness tracking, with sluggish growth in the market for more complex devices that have their own applications like the Apple Watch.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

LOOK: Patek Philippe watch fetches record $11M at auction

A stainless steel Patek Philippe watch has sold for a record $11 million (10.2 million euros) in Geneva, an auction house said Monday.

The piece from the Swiss company's 1518 series sold on Saturday for 11,002,000 Swiss francs following a 13-minute bidding war, according to a statement from Phillips, a leading watch auction firm based in London.

When Patek Philippe introduced the 1518 series in 1941, they were the first-ever perpetual calendar chronographs, meaning they were the first timepieces that had both a stop-watch function as well as a calendar designed to keep track of dates for centuries, with leap years factored in.

The piece sold on Saturday was made in 1943, Phillips said, calling its sale price "a new world record for any wristwatch at auction", which more than tripped the pre-sale estimate.

Neither the buyer, nor the seller were identified.

A total of 177 watches were sold over weekend in the Swiss city, fetching $27.5 million collectively.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

British shoppers defy Brexit shock as spending jumps in July

LONDON - Shoppers in Britain shrugged off June's shock Brexit vote as retail sales jumped by much more than expected last month, adding to signs there has been little immediate hit for consumers.

Warm weather boosted clothes sales and the pound's plunge tempted overseas buyers to splash out on luxury items such as watches and jewelry, official data showed on Thursday.

These are the first official figures to shed light on how consumer demand has performed since the unexpected decision by voters to leave the European Union in the June 23 referendum.

Data released earlier this week also showed little immediate impact of the Brexit vote on the labor market but there were signs of inflation pressures building after the plunge in sterling, which could eat into the spending power of households going forward.

Sentiment surveys have shown levels of concern, but actual retail sales volumes surged 1.4 percent in July compared with June, the Office for National Statistics said, topping all forecasts in a Reuters poll that pointed to a much smaller rise of 0.2 percent.

The pound rose half a cent against the dollar and British gilt (bond) futures pared gains after the data release.

"This positive surprise is encouraging for (third quarter) growth, but with consumer confidence having plunged in the wake of Brexit and business surveys suggesting growing caution, we doubt that it is sustainable," said James Knightley, economist at ING.

"Inflation is starting to rise and will continue to do so due to the steep fall in sterling, meaning that real household income growth will weaken. This is likely to limit retail sales growth in coming quarters."

BANK OF ENGLAND WATCHING

The ONS retail sales figures are volatile and Bank of England policymakers will want to see more than one month's data before drawing firm conclusions about the health of consumer spending - a key pillar of British economic recently.

"Better weather this year could be a major factor with sales of clothing and footwear doing particularly well," said Joe Grice, chief economic adviser at the ONS.

"There is also anecdotal evidence from respondents suggesting the weaker pound has encouraged overseas visitors to spend."

Sales of watches and jewelry were up 16.6 percent in July compared with the same month last year - the biggest jump in nearly two years.

Major retailers including Tesco, Next and John Lewis say they have not been affected so far by the referendum result, while the British Retail Consortium also said spending in shops bounced in July.

But the long-running GfK survey - the main measure of consumer morale and an indicator of future household spending over the years - suffered its sharpest drop since 1990 last month.

Compared with a year earlier, July sales growth jumped to 5.9 percent, the biggest rise since September of last year and far stronger than the 4.2 percent forecast, Thursday's data showed.

The BoE more than halved its forecasts for household spending over the next two years in light of the vote to leave the EU. It now expects growth in spending of 1.0 percent and 0.75 percent in 2017 and 2018 respectively as lower growth in wages and higher inflation eat into spending power.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LOOK: Top pick watch models to complete your wish list

Omega, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe are some of the most celebrated and highly-patronized watch brands in the world. These companies' innovative designs have already proven a lot not just on their aesthetic appeal but also on their practical use.

With the wide selections of these companies' watch models, for sure you will have a hard time picking the best watch for you. So here to help you choose your next 'time perfect' watch, this episode of ANC's Executive Class listed 3 pairs of top pick watch models.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Christmas gift idea: Philip Stein's Legacy Petite watch

MANILA – This new watch collection is made available exclusively in the Philippines first, just in time for the holiday season.

Philip Stein’s Legacy Petite watches are as chic and elegant as its predecessors and come in two styles – the stainless steel oval case and the rose gold-plated version.

Each timepiece has Philip Stein’s signature dual time zone dial in white mother of pearl, fitted with mineral crystal, and comes with interchangeable silk calf straps available in black, white, pink and light blue.

It is also equipped with Philip Stein’s Natural Frequency Technology, a chip that acts like an antenna to help the wearer “tune in to the earth’s positive alpha waves.”

Broadway star and “The Voice of the Philippines” coach Lea Salonga, an endorser of Philip Stein, co-created the Legacy Petite collection.

Priced from P37,100 to P47,950 each, the Legacy Petite watches will be available in Philip Stein stores nationwide in late December.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

New smart watch fuses fashion, fitness

NEW YORK -- Smart gadget specialty firm Withings introduced a fashionable Swiss-made time piece Tuesday that doubles as a fitness tracker.

The French company billed Activite as a chic watch with computing brains to track steps taken, calories burned, distance traveled, and sleep patterns.

"Our mission is to inspire health," Withings chief executive Cedric Hutchings said in a release.

Fitness has been a hotspot in the budding trend of wearable computers, with activity monitoring bracelets or pendants such as UP24 and Fitbit finding success in the market.

Consumer electronics titans such as Sony, Samsung, and LG have stepped up with smart watches boasting fitness tracking capabilities.

Apple built a Health Kit into the newest version of the software powering iPhones and iPads, adding fuel to rumors that the California company plans to release a smart watch of its own.

Activite was created by designers in Paris in a spirit of "reinterpreting classical time pieces."

It use Bluetooth connectivity to synch with Withing Health Mate applications on Apple smartphones or tablets.

Activite will be priced at $390 when it is released later this year, according to Withings.

Since being founded in 2009, the firm has become best known for a smart bathroom scale that lets people tap into powers of the Internet and smartphones to manage their weight.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Luxury watchmakers face severe shortage of craftsmen

GENEVA - Anita Porchet has a skill that Swiss watchmakers can't afford to do without. As an enamel painter, she decorates watches for the likes of Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin which can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But the industry is facing a severe shortage of craftsmen and women who have mastered the techniques of enamel painting, marquetry and engine-turning - at a time when there is growing demand for high-end handmade watches.

One of Porchet's masterpieces is a miniature painting on a watch dial of Marc Chagall's ceiling of the Opera Garnier in Paris which took her three months to create.

Having been taught by her godfather as a teenager and worked tirelessly to refine her art over the years, the 53-year-old is determined to stay independent and has resisted recent overtures from big brands that wanted to recruit her.

"I said no. I want to keep my freedom to be able to explore my creative possibilities," she said. "Many old women have taught me their enamel secrets in their kitchen."

The clamouring for her skills reflects the industry's wider problem.

"I have seen some crafts disappear during the last 30 years," said Juan-Carlos Torres, head of Vacheron Constantin, which is owned by Richemont. "Engine-turning almost disappeared, enamelling as well, (at one point) there were only two or three decent enamellers left in the world."

Faced with this dearth of talent, the likes of Richemont and Breguet owner Swatch Group - hungry for the high margins offered by the handmade watch segment - are trying to recruit artisans and investing in training programmes so they can secure these skills by bringing them in-house.

Richemont, which also owns Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Piaget and is the biggest player in high-end watches, is currently building a fine watchmaking campus in Geneva where it will train enamel painters and engravers for its own needs from 2016 - part of a 60 million Swiss franc ($67 million) investment in training and research over 10 years.

"TRUE GIFT"

Decorative crafts have a long tradition in Geneva, tracing their roots back to the 17th century and the arrival of the Huguenots from France who turned to decorating watches because other luxury objects were banned at the time.

Enamel painting is one of the oldest techniques, Patek Philippe, whose most sophisticated timepieces can cost $1 million, says on its website. The painters apply a vitreous substance based on silica sand and coloured with metal oxides that is later fired at over 800 degrees Celsius.

"At the last firing, a piece can be damaged, it can crack. A lot of patience is needed for this difficult work," said Sandrine Stern, head of creation at Patek Philippe. "Miniature painting on enamel is even more rare, it's a true gift."

In engine-turning or "guillochage", an expert creates kaleidoscopic patterns on metal with a hand-operated machine, while marquetry involves assembling up to hundreds of tiny pieces of wood, straw or even dried flowers to create an image.

After their heyday in the 19th century, artistic watches and the know-how needed to make them entered a period of slow decline, coming close to extinction in the 1970s when the market for mechanical, hand-decorated watches collapsed due to the arrival of cheaper, battery-powered quartz watches.

Because of the consequent lack of demand for watch decoration, training programmes were scrapped, such as the renowned enamel painting course offered by Geneva's art school.

But growing appetite for luxury goods from the 1990s led to renewed interest in Swiss mechanical watches, with sales growth in the high-end segment outperforming growth in entry and mid-priced watches over the last decade.

The number of Swiss mechanical watches exported more than doubled from 2.7 million in 2000 to 6.8 million in the first 11 months of 2013, while the number of quartz watches dropped from 28.7 million to 19.1 million, according to the Swiss Watch Federation. Over the same period, the average price of a Swiss watch rose to 728 francs from 323 francs.

High margins - Richemont's operating margin exceeds 31 percent versus around 23 percent for midprice-focused Swatch - are also attracting new players to the high-end segment, such as Hermes' watch unit.

"ANYBODY CAN HAVE LACQUER"

If complex technical achievements are the bread of high-end watchmakers, sophisticated handmade decorations are the butter, allowing them to justify sky-high price tags to consumers in search of exclusivity and lasting value.

"If I used lacquer instead of enamel, I could sell a watch for 80,000 euros ($109,000) instead of 110,000 euros. I could sell more but what is the value in the eyes of customers? None. Anybody can have lacquer," said Vacheron's Torres, adding an enamelled dial now cost 15-20 times more than 15 years ago.

Despite the rising demand for those rare watch decoration skills in the last decade, in Switzerland only jewellers, engravers and polishers can sign up for official training programmes, the Fine Watchmaking Foundation said.

Enamel painting and engine-turning are only passed on from artisan to artisan in the country. The watch industry employers' association, Convention Patronale, offered training sessions with an engine-turner in recent years, but had to stop because the artisan passed away.

Enamel painting and marquetry courses exist abroad, notably in France, but they are not specifically for watches.

Yann von Kaenel, an independent engine-turner who employs about 10 people in his workshop, says he does not have the time and means to train apprentices and would not want to see them absorb his knowledge and then join a big group.

However now, as well as companies investing in training, the Convention Patronale said it had been asked by a group of watch brands to reopen a course for enamel painters. "We're looking into it," said training head Severine Favre.

Despite the push by brands such as Richemont to pull such skills in-house, family-owned Patek Philippe insists it is just as important to support independent artisans, who it says are often more creative and innovative.

"It has never been our goal to make everything internally. There are many independent artisans, they are artists and don't necessarily like working office hours," said Patek's Stern.

Porchet said she was happy the boom of enamel painting kept her busy, but she also sounded a note of caution about big companies investing in training to increase production.

"It's not good if the market is flooded with pieces - there's a risk enamel becomes banal and people lose interest."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Adidas unveils smartwatch for runners

MANILA - German sportswear manufacturer adidas unveiled its company's first entry into the world of smartwatches with a device that boasts to have everything a runner needs.


The miCoach Smart Run, priced at P19,995, enables runners to track their runs using GPS mapping, monitor their heart rate directly from their wrist, get real-time coaching advice and even play their favorite tunes.

"By combining the latest innovations, such as the Mio Wrist Based Continuous Heart Rate Technology, design and ease of use navigation, we consciously defied the rules that define other running watches," said Simon Drabble, director of miCoach at adidas.

The Android-powered smartwatch also features the miCoach system which can be synced with adidas' web platform through WLAN to make personalizing workout sessions more easier.

"As part of the miCoach training system, it truly unlocks the runner’s full potential by making smart training easy and accessible. Whether you’re starting a new running program, training for a 10k or competing in another marathon, miCoach SMART RUN will make your training more efficient so you get the results you want,” added Drabble.

The Smart Run weighs 80 grams and has a 1.45 inch full color transflective touch display. It is said to have a battery life of 4 hours with coaching and music and up to 14 days on its watch display mode.

"The completeness and simplicity of Smart Run is astounding." Terrence Mahon, Lead Endurance Coach, UK Athletics Federation said."The visual and audible guidance for interval training is a leap forward from any other watch available."

The miCoach Smart Run is available for purchase exclusively at the adidas eShop (shop.adidas.com.ph) on December 1.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

TicTocTrac Watch Tracks Your Perception Of Time, Also Tells It

Anyone with even the vaguest understanding of the theory of relativity knows that time isn’t a fixed construct. How you experience time depends on what you’re doing –whether you’re sitting around, or moving at near light-speed. Your perception of time also depends on what you’re doing in a more mundane way, like whether you’re playing video games or sitting in a meeting. The TicTocTrac watch aims to help you learn more about that second kind of time warping. Also, like any good watch, it also tells time.

The watch, a DIY project by Cornell students Brian Schiffer and Sima Mitra, works by giving you the opportunity to guess how long you think it took to do something. Whether you overestimate or underestimate, and by how much, illustrates how your perception of time is skewed. Say, for instance, you’re about to wash the dishes. You can set the TicTocTrac watch to go into monitoring mode for a set period of time, during which it won’t display the time on its face. When you’ve finished your task (presumably before the monitoring timer runs out) you estimate about how long you think the activity took.

Of course, there’s more to it than that. TicTocTrac will keep track of all these little tests, so that over time you build a library of data that tracks the fluctuations in your perception of time over a day, or a week. For an example, you can take a look at the data from one of the guys who designed the watch. It’s a little hard to understand at first, but just the fact that it exists is fascinating.

The project’s documentation is incredibly throrough, and all the schematics are available if you’re the kind of person that might build your own. On the tech side, the watch is pretty impressive for a DIY project, including a vibration motor and a micro SD card slot. If you want to know more, the documentation will tell you more than you ever thought there was to know.

It’s interesting, but beware, your perception of time might speed up a little if you read it all the way through.

source: geekosystem.com