Editor’s Note
This article explores how ROMANSON, a watchmaker with decades of global reach, successfully leveraged its J.ESTINA jewelry brand through a high-profile partnership with figure skating icon Kim Yuna. It highlights a strategic pivot from a core product to building a powerful fashion accessory line.
From Figure Skating Queen to Global Brand AmbassadorKim Yuna, who captivated the world as the ‘Figure Skating Queen’. Do you remember the tiara earrings sparkling on her ears every time she appeared on screen? That was from ROMANSON’s jewelry brand, J.ESTINA. While ROMANSON is primarily known for watches, having exported them to over 70 countries since 1988, the company recently struck gold with the J.ESTINA brand.
Following its success in jewelry, J.ESTINA has launched handbags and is expanding into New York’s Soho district. ROMANSON’s projected sales for this year are 120 billion won, with an operating profit of 11.7 billion won, representing a 10.3% growth in sales compared to the previous year. The watch export division accounts for $25 million (approximately 30 billion won) of this. The company aims for 300 billion won in sales by 2015. The driving force behind this success is ROMANSON’s CEO, Kim Ki-seok.
Associates describe him as a born entrepreneur. He demonstrated his foresight in turning seemingly red ocean markets into blue oceans by creating new markets, a vision validated by J.ESTINA. This is not the only reason to pay attention to CEO Kim. All brands born from ROMANSON are homegrown. Consequently, ROMANSON is a company that presents the potential and hope of domestic brands to the Korean fashion industry.
The company has been participating in Baselworld, the world’s largest watch and jewelry fair in Switzerland, since 1997. It developed the world’s first watch with a glass surface cut into a diamond shape and also created Korea’s first ultra-thin slim watch at 3.89mm. As a result, since 2002, it has been invited to the Baselworld Prestige Hall, establishing pride for Korean brands.
The architects of ROMANSON’s present are CEO Kim Ki-seok and his brother, Chairman Kim Ki-moon, who co-founded the company. Founded in the year of the Seoul Olympics by the Kim brothers and two other employees, the company has grown into a fashion specialist firm targeting 300 billion won in just 23 years. From his first job started with his brother, he shared the owner’s dedication, passion, and ideas.
If there’s a commonality between love and business, it’s timing. CEO Kim’s confidence in handling that timing led to ingenious ideas and exquisite choices. Among them, the issue that captured public attention was likely the casting of athlete Kim Yuna.
Thanks to this, ROMANSON’s jewelry business grew from 22 billion won in 2006 to 57.7 billion won in 2009, and last year,叠加 with the ‘Son Yeon-jae effect’, it recorded sales of 70 billion won.
CEO Kim’s well-timed decisions extended to New York business. While the typical overseas expansion sequence for domestic brands was to enter large flagship stores or famous local department stores to generate buzz, J.ESTINA did the opposite.
In March, the brand was officially introduced on the popular American reality program ‘America’s Next Top Model’. The reason CEO Kim is accelerating the New York expansion is due to local copycat issues that have already begun to spread. It’s a plan to firmly establish originality before J.ESTINA copycat products distributed through US online sites spread further. J.ESTINA’s first store is scheduled to be in New York’s Soho, opening in April, with plans to open a second store in Los Angeles by the end of next year to target both the US East and West Coasts simultaneously.
J.ESTINA is not only expanding its territory through its US entry but has also cautiously knocked on the handbag market. The start is not bad. J.ESTINA BAGS, which started with SLG (Small Leather Goods like wallets), has high purchasing power for accessories, with iPhone cases selling out. I.ESTDONNA turns direction to present the essence of fine jewelry. ROMANSON has joined forces with various brands through a multi-brand shop format rather than standalone stores, aligning with the domestic watch market conditions.
CEO Kim’s choice to address this is a watch specialty multi-brand shop. The strategy is to secure good positions and enhance brand value by mixing ROMANSON with other world-renowned brands.
‘The Watches’, prepared since last year, will be presented alongside ROMANSON at Baselworld. It features brands like PREMIERE (classic design), J.ESTINA (emphasizing femininity), TROPICISH (European design), and Swiss imported brands like MOVADO, ALFEX, and MARVIN. ‘The Watches’ holds significance as the first time ROMANSON watches are sold in department stores and introduces Swiss brands to Korea.
CEO Kim is a leader with no regrets about the paths not taken. Before revealing future plans and aspirations, CEO Kim cited the example of Swarovski, noting the driving force that captivated the world from Austria, a country not seemingly close to ‘fashion’. The reason a single raw material can be loved through various versions of development and discovery is a precise brand image that can be remembered as one thing and bold investment. His business is the same. Rather than stressing over timing, his method is to extract various elements the brand possesses and develop them one by one, which CEO Kim describes as the ‘stabilization’ rule. Expectations are high for CEO Kim’s choices and timing, which are never stingy towards new challenges, and what will come next.
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