【South Korea】Luxury Jewelry and Watch Brands Aggressively Expand Retail Networks in Korea

Luxury jewelry and watch brands are racing to expand their retail networks in South Korea.
According to the industry, while the overall luxury market has entered a period of stagnation in recent years, high jewelry and watch brands are the only segments continuing their high-flying performance. Based on the three major department stores, the high jewelry and watch categories are the only ones showing high growth this year, following last year. The cumulative sales of luxury jewelry at Shinsegae, Hyundai, and Lotte department stores in the first quarter of this year grew by a minimum of 29% to a maximum of 43% compared to the same period last year. Consequently, department stores are strengthening their dedicated sections or expanding pop-up stores.
Luxury jewelry & watch subsidiaries are also showing growth on their own. Last year, the total sales of five major luxury watch & jewelry subsidiaries reached 1.6138 trillion won, a 15% increase year-on-year. LVMH Watch & Jewelry Korea, which holds brands like Chaumet and Fred, grew by 33%, Bulgari Korea by 23%, and Rolex Korea by 16%.
This is analyzed to be influenced by price increases due to rising gold prices and exchange rates, as well as the perception that these items are less sensitive to weather and have strong asset value.

The perception that “today is the cheapest” is actually having an impact. High-end jewelry and watch brands have undergone multiple rounds of price increases, and recently, brands like Tiffany, IWC, Breguet, Longines, Cartier, and Van Cleef & Arpels have raised prices by a minimum of 5% to a maximum of 10%.
Accordingly, they are aggressively expanding their distribution networks, with ultra-high-end jewelry items priced in the tens of millions of won being particularly active.

LVMH’s French high jewelry ‘Maison Fred’ opened its first store in the Jeolla region at Shinsegae Gwangju Branch in April. ‘Fred’ now has secured 13 stores, including Galleria Luxury Hall and Gwanggyo Branch.
The top five high jewelry brand ‘Graff’, which started in the UK in 1960, is planning to enter Shinsegae Main Store and Busan Centum City Branch.
French luxury jewelry ‘Boucheron’ quadrupled its store size at Lotte Duty Free and additionally opened at Shinsegae Centum City Branch. Next month, it will close its Lotte Main Store location and newly open at Shinsegae Main Store.
Global luxury group Kering’s fine jewelry ‘Qeelin’ opened its third boutique in Korea on the 2nd floor of Shinsegae Main Store’s new wing (The Estate). This boutique opening is the third, following the Lotte Main Store Avenue L branch in 2023 and Galleria Luxury Hall East earlier this year.
Italian luxury jewelry ‘Pomellato’ has secured a total of 5 stores in just 8 months since opening its first store at Lotte Avenue L Main Store last September. Following Hyundai Main Store, Trade Center Branch, and Galleria Luxury Hall West, it recently opened at Lotte World Tower. Luxury jewelry ‘Tiffany’ is also known to be preparing to open a store in Cheongdam.

Swiss high-end watch ‘H. Moser & Cie.’, with an average selling price exceeding 100 million won, recently announced its entry into the Korean market. H. Moser & Cie. and its distributor, Roca under the Damiani Group, jointly held a press conference to announce their domestic entry. The first standalone boutique opened at Galleria Luxury Hall East, making it the brand’s fifth standalone boutique worldwide, following Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Menlo Park, USA.

Swiss luxury watch Vacheron Constantin also recently officially opened its first flagship store ‘Maison 1755 Seoul’ in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. This store, approximately 629㎡ in size, is designed as a complex cultural space featuring the brand’s history, an archive of Korean traditional aesthetics, and areas for watch collectors and enthusiasts. ‘Rolex’ is also preparing to open a new store in Cheongdam-dong.