Editor’s Note
This article previews a major luxury watch and jewelry exhibition at Shinsegae’s Gangnam store, highlighting its scale and the participating brands.
Shinsegae Department Store’s Gangnam branch will host a mini-exhibition showcasing the world’s top-tier watch and jewelry trends at a glance.
Shinsegae Gangnam Store will hold the “Luxury Watch & Jewelry Fair” from the 25th to the 31st on the 2nd and 3rd floors in the Wedding Gift Hall, presenting a variety of products from globally renowned luxury watch and jewelry brands.
This event, featuring products worth approximately 60 billion won from a total of 34 brands, is the largest in terms of product value among events held by a single Shinsegae Department Store branch.
In particular, for this event, a separate exhibition space will be created in the connecting passageway between the main and new buildings on the 3rd floor of the Gangnam store. It will specially display the latest trend luxury watches that were showcased at the world-renowned prestigious watch fair, aiming to capture the attention of watch enthusiasts and premium wedding gift customers.
Over 30 pieces from 11 brands that participated in the 2017 ‘SIHH’ (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) and ‘Baselworld’, the world’s largest watch and jewelry fair, will be exhibited, including Audemars Piguet, Piaget, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, and A. Lange & Söhne.
Notably, brands like Omega and TAG Heuer will unveil some of their new products for the first time in Korea, while Breguet, Hublot, Piaget, and others have prepared exclusive products available only at the Gangnam store.
Omega will domestically premiere three limited-edition Speedmaster models (9.1 million won) reborn for the 60th anniversary of the launch of the popular traditional model Speedmaster, along with the Seamaster (8.8 million won) and Railmaster (8.5 million won). TAG Heuer will domestically premiere the New Link Lady Quartz (5.27 million won), the 2017 new product from the legendary Link collection.
Exclusive products sold only at the Gangnam store, such as Piaget’s Limelight High Jewelry Watch (over 200 million won), Hublot’s Gold White Full Pavé (over 70 million won / 2017 new product), and Breguet’s Classique 7147 (over 26 million won / 2017 new product), will also be available.
In addition to luxury watches, 13 luxury jewelry brands including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, and Damiani will also participate.
Tiffany will hold a wedding gift exhibition at the Void on the 2nd floor of the main building until the 30th. Adir, Shinsegae’s own diamond brand, will unveil colorful diamond rings with rare cuts hard to find in Korea on the 3rd floor of the new building.
A gift certificate promotion will also be held, offering gift certificates equivalent to 5% of the purchase amount for the first three days of the event, from the 25th to the 27th.
Meanwhile, sales of luxury watches and jewelry continue to cruise annually despite high prices and a prolonged economic downturn.
This is because the landscape of the domestic luxury watch market has been changing rapidly in recent years.
Previously, men who focused on wedding gift watches and owned just one high-end watch are increasingly recognizing watches as the most glamorous fashion item, tending to own two or more. Among some enthusiasts, luxury watches are emerging as an investment means.
In reality, some luxury watches like Rolex or Patek Philippe, due to their ‘scarcity’ from limited production, often see their second-hand prices rise higher than when purchased new.
Looking at the performance of the luxury watch/jewelry genre at Shinsegae Department Store over the past three years, it has grown by about 20% annually, showing a growth rate 2-3 times higher compared to the department store’s overall performance.
