Product envy, once the preserve of boys and their toys where size and logos matter " be it the biggest conker in the playground, the coolest BMX on the street or most posey sports car " is now very much female territory. You only have to witness the green-eyed-monster-effect an of-the-moment handbag (especially if it's a super-size-me version complete with matching wallet) has on a queue at Tesco. But the nascent fashion status symbol isn't a bag.
It is the designer watch, and it is bought by both sexes the analysts Mintel report 23 per cent of us now wear one (compared to 17 per cent in 2003 and 11 per cent in 1999). It is also proving lucrative for big- name fashion houses " Christian Dior's sales in this area have increased more than 10-fold since 2001.
But paying a pretty penny for luxury timepieces isn't a new phenomenon. It's just that, previously, those who forked
Latex Leggingsout did so for long-established and slightly stuffy watchmaking names where Swiss master-craftsmanship credentials were recognised by an in-the-know, old-money crowd.
'The world of watches was very stiff and enclosed,' affirms Valerie Lachaux, the president of Christian Dior watches. 'Once upon a time the purchase of a watch was surrounded by solemnity and seriousness all that's finished and done with now,' she reveals.
Glamour used to come in the form of the rock royalty of watches, the Rolex, but this was produced by a watchmaking house. It wasn't until 1996, when produced its 'G' style, that fashion made a successful leap into the luxury-watch market. 's key to opening the once-firmly-closed prestige-watch-world door was to combine Swiss watchmaking craftsmanship with the aesthetic.
David Lindsey, a watch buyer for 20 years and the sales manager for the luxury-watch retailer Mappin & Webb, recalls the folly of fashion names prior to 'Back then, fashion watches were licensed product. And the licensee just wanted to make money off the name but didn't put any effort into the actual watch mechanism, so the luxury element wasn't there. I remember I literally couldn't give Christian Dior watches away.' Having learnt a valuable lesson, one now sees fashion houses painstakingly proving their watchmaking worth by expensively researching and showcasing their innovations at the watch industry's Basel fair.
Lindsey says that fashion watches are now very big 'Dior, along with Chanel, and Cartier, do very well for us.'
Dior's turnaround came in 2000 when the watch business was bought back and brought under LVMH's control. Now Christian Dior's designers, John Galliano (womenswear and couture); Hedi Slimane (Dior Homme menswear) and Victoire de Castellane (fine jewellery) design the watches, combining their creativity with the technical brilliance of Swiss watchmaking. Sales figures have since doubled year on year and designs continue to develop. This month sees Galliano's largest watch launch for Dior. Called the Christal, the stainless steel and sapphire bezel sports style described as 'rock'n'roll'.
Ironically, a good barometer of a fashion product's success is witnessing the amount of rip-offs the design generates. A recent stroll along New York's Canal Street revealed that the fashion-lover lacking money no longer scours for the best lookalike bag; now it's fashion watches, and the hottest under-the-counter purchase is Chanel's sporty J12.
Lindsey abhors fakes and says he can spot one within seconds of looking at it. He can also vouch for the J12's fashion ascension 'I bought my wife the Chanel J12 in white. From her wearing it I sold a further six to her friends because when they saw it on her they said they loved it and had seen it in all the magazines. It was 7,500.'
Men are equally attracted, particularly if there's an air of exclusivity or the whiff of a famous name involved. Lindsey recently had a male customer dithering between two watches, 'one priced at 4,000 and the other 7,500', reveals Lindsey. 'I knew he liked the 4,000 one better. But as soon as he heard agents on the phone to me asking if they could photograph the more expensive watch because it was the only one in the country, the customer said he had to have the 7,500 one.'
Watches have become the new tool to keep up with (and, more importantly, to better) the Joneses. But luxury watches have always been read as an indicator of wealth. Sales assistants at posh boutiques notoriously use watches to estimate whether a customer is worth fawning over. Old-school classics such as Cartier, Rolex or Patek Philippe are, apparently, considered the more genuine shoppers.
In the last five years, having sniffed out the watch's earning potential, fashion conglomerates made it their business to buy up
Latex Catsuitsmarket share in a flurry of watch-house acquisitions. LVMH purchased TAG Heuer and others, and the Richemont Group's multiple grab included Jaeger Le Coultre. During this period the first Louis Vuitton watch appeared along.
These bottom-line-fixated companies don't enter markets unless they know they'll strike gold (Mintel estimates that the UK market for luxury watches is worth 405m this year). And they cleverly spotted that, as computers and mobile phones (both time-telling devices) became the domestic norm, the watch changed from everyday necessity to desirable item. Also, a new demographic wanted to buy into luxury brands at a slightly higher level than with zentai and with handbags.
Lindsey relates 'My plumber turned up the other day wearing a gold Cartier. I said 'nice watch,' thinking 'I'm paying him too much,' and he said 'Thanks " I wear an Audemars Piguet when I go out at the weekends."
