Fine Watches on Spanish Time
Beatriz Roldán*
Let’s put pure semantics aside and just deal with this subject superficially and say—and I think nearly all of us will agree—that discussing this is to do so out of tradition, quality, design and exclusivity: in Spain, Fine Watches drink from their source, which is apparently Swiss.
Bit by bit, and in a relatively short period of time, the term Fine Watches has been quietly introduced into our country in the same way as other goods, given that the doors of Spain have stood open—in the sense of coming and going—for free trade and people’s moving about. Since first hearing about the old AIHH, when the Spanish public was just becoming familiar with a host of new brands, until becoming a market in which there is a disproportionately high number of watch brands, and finally culminating in the fact that in April, 2007, Spain was the ninth largest Swiss watch importer (2.6% more than the year prior), a lot has happened in a short time.
On the one hand, Fine Watches in Spain have diversified in such a way that what used to be a reflection of social status and generally consisted of wearing a gold watch with precious stones, generally a Rolex, has become diluted among a list of brands of grand lineage or related to the fashion phenomenon—like Hublot—to reach the die-hard collector. This movement has been made possible thanks mostly to the sector press, which has given rise to a savvier consumer; to the brands themselves, who have learned how to create their distributors, and in short, to sell with a story to the Internet and to the world of auctions.
A large number of customers
Nonetheless, many Fine Watch buyers continue to be motivated by brand, others by curiosity, and then there are those who have moved forward and only want to own an authentically exclusive piece. This means that the initial snob appeal in wearing a brand everyone knows has come around to wearing a brand that is absolutely unknown or even including what is now known as the high-end phenomenon. All that makes us ponder the fact that what five years ago was considered a Fine Watch would now be an object for review. In this regard Darío Fernández de Villavicencio—a Fine Watch collector and someone especially knowledgeable and involved in the sector through his website www.cronotime.com—offers the opinion that the profile of the new Fine Watch collector is no longer a consumer of pieces such as a platinum Rolex with baguette diamonds, but rather instead of displaying manifest wealth, he is more oriented towards acquiring a series of brands that were unthinkable of displaying years ago because they were unknown.
Regarding this, the Fine Watch direct consumer, watch establishments in our country similarly point out that both collectors and the rest of their customers are better informed about the product thanks to technical and post-sale services which do the job of informing their clients about the timepiece they possess or wish to acquire. At any rate, there continues to be a large number of customers who come to the establishments looking for a watch they have seen in print or on the Internet, but who actually know and are looking for the timepieces they know well and know what they want.
13 watch magazines and 2 monthly newspapers
As Juan Carlos M. Oyanguren, Public Relations for Jaeger-LeCoultre, points out, contributing to this has been the fact that in the last three years Spain’s communications media have begun paying a lot of attention to topics related to watches in general and Fine Watches in particular. General men’s and women’s magazines have begun to devote many more pages to Fine Watches, thanks to the increased brand information being sent out by media offices and the increase in advertising budget. Likewise, the specialized magazine sector has experienced a spectacular rise in the number of titles: 13 watch magazines and 2 monthly newspapers with sector news. This is quite a phenomenon for a country that consumes more Fine Watch pieces per year but still trails many European countries, none of whom display such a big assortment in watch magazines.
For Jean-Louis Queimado, Director of Vacheron Constatin in Spain and Portugal, the Fine Watch pieces are designed for a clientele who values a high aesthetic and technical level in its watches, manufactured by a brand with timepiece legitimacy. Jean-Louis Queimado recognises that a few years ago Spain was believed to be the realm only of brands with strong marketing investments or public relations that very "fashionable" models sold and with very short delivery times. However, and bearing in mind his brand’s evolution, Jean-Louis Queimado assures us that in the last three years the Spanish market has evolved favourably, turning into one of the most promising markets for Fine Watches. On the other hand, the increase in knowledge in this sector has a negative side as the brands added to the restricted universe of Fine Watches are proliferating with no respect for certain basic criteria regarding production and distribution. Proof of this is the excess of limited series in the Spanish marketplace, a strategy which, according to Jean-Louis Queimado, is profitable in the short term, but "mercenary”.
Finally, Queimado’s reflection leads us to conclude that the only way to preserve the reputation and quality of Fine Watches in important markets like Spain is based on the responsibility of keeping manufacturing and marketing criteria high. ■
*Director, Tempus Magazine
