Luxe on click: $45,000 Cornes de Vache watches to be sold online
For the first time, luxury timepiece-maker Vacheron Constantin is planning to sell limited editions of 1955 timepieces through a website.
By Bloomberg |
Agencies
In a digital push to woo younger customers, the luxury watchmaker’s limited-edition timepieces will be available only on the e-commerce site. (Image: www.vacheron-constantin.com)
For the first time in its 262-year history, luxury timepiece-maker Vacheron Constantin will start selling its new watches online.
The Richemont-owned brand designed a limited edition of 36 Cornes de Vache 1955 timepieces with New York-based watch news website Hodinkee -the first such collaboration for the watchmaker, said Vincent Brun, president of Vacheron Constantin in North America. The $45,000 watches will only be available on Hodinkee.com and not in stores.
“We wanted to make this digital step in order to increase brand exposure in the world and reach out to watch lovers we did not necessarily speak to until now,“ said Brun.
Swiss watchmakers have been increasingly embracing e-commerce to reach a younger clientele that's less interested in wearing watches. Richemont has hired an executive from Google Inc.to bolster its digital push as its brands catch up with Hermes, which sells its $25,000 timepieces online.
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The Cornes de Vache timepieces were designed with a more “youthful“ look and are available in stainless steel for the first time, said Ben Clymer, the website's founder.
“The steel case is something that is becomi ng very desirable to readers of Hodinkee,“ he said. “It also brings the price down to below $50,000, making it slightly more approachable.“
Swiss watch exports dropped the most in seven years in 2016, as high-end timepieces went unsold in Hong Kong, the industry's largest market. A survey showed that, for the first time, Swiss watch executives plan to expand more in e-commerce than in other channels such as their own stores.
