HH Magazine

According to the 2012 World Watch Report, presented at the SIHH and which analyses online searches for fine watch products and brands, China has pulled ahead of the United States for the number of searches.

It should come as no surprise: China, a premium destination for Swiss watches, also scores the most online searches for information on fine watches, writes the 2012 World Watch Report (WWR). The report bases its findings on the analysis of millions of searches using the most popular search engines (Google, Bing, Yandex, Baidu). "For the first time since WWR was launched in 2004, China has overtaken the United States for the number of searches for fine watches, with a worldwide market share of close to 25% versus 21% for the US," explains the report.

Vacheron Constantin leads the field in Asia

Vacheron Constantin is the most searched-for brand in Asia, accounting for 64% of searches, ahead of Patek Philippe (46%) and Jaeger-LeCoultre (45%). In Europe, it's a different picture with Zenith and A. Lange & Söhne topping the polls at 52% and 50% respectively. The 2012 WWR highlights the fact that one in every six searches internationally - almost 17% - is made from a mobile device. In Japan, this figure climbs to almost 50%.

Of the fifteen brands* covered by the report, IWC takes the lion's share with 23% of total searches on the Web, ahead of Patek Philippe (16%) and Zenith (11%). Next come Jaeger-LeCoultre (11%), Vacheron Constantin (8%) and Audemars Piguet (8%) which have clearly gained in visibility compared with Breguet (5%), Franck Muller (5%) or Blancpain (3%) whose online ranking is down. Richemont thus confirms its foothold online by placing three of its brands among the top five most-searched.

IWC watches grab half the top spots

Turning to the watches themselves, IWC has succeeded in putting five of its iconic models in the top ten "most wanted." They are the Portuguese (2^nd), Portofino (4^th), Pilot's (5^th), Mark (6^th) and Aquatimer (9^th). Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak claims first place while its spin-off, the Royal Oak Offshore, comes seventh. Jaeger-LeCoultre's Reverso is toppled from the number-one spot to take third position. The El Primero by Zenith (8^th) and Nautilus by Patek Philippe (10^th) complete the ranking. Of the 500 models surveyed, these ten collections cornered 44.5% of global searches.

It's tempting to draw a parallel between the popularity of IWC's models among online searches and the brand's omnipresence on social media. "With a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Sina Weibo, IWC stands out among fine watch brands as the most advanced in terms of social media. IWC has an online following of close to 230,000 people. This is more than twice as many as its nearest competitor, Jaeger-LeCoultre, which has 85,000 friends." To date, half a million people are affiliated to one or other fine watch brand on Facebook. ■

Christophe Roulet

*A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Breguet, Franck Muller, Girard-Perregaux, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Jaquet Droz, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, Zenith.

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