【South Korea】Luxury Jewelry and Watches Emerge as ‘Investment Assets’ in the Market… Driving Department Store Sales

In the domestic department store luxury market, high jewelry and watches are being re-evaluated as ‘investment assets,’ driving sales growth. There is a clear trend of consumers’ perception of luxury consumption shifting from simple fashion items to ‘investment-type consumption’ that considers long-term holding and value appreciation.

According to industry sources on the 27th, the high jewelry and watch segments of the three major department store groups—Lotte, Shinsegae, and Hyundai—showed notable growth compared to their luxury boutiques in the first quarter.

Lotte Department Store saw its high jewelry and watch sales increase by 35% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year. This figure significantly surpasses the growth rate of its luxury boutique sales (5%) during the same period.

Shinsegae Department Store also showed a clear gap, with its jewelry and watch sales increasing by 25.4% during the same period, compared to an 11.2% increase for its luxury boutiques.

This phenomenon is even more pronounced at Hyundai Department Store. In the first quarter, high jewelry and watch sales surged by a remarkable 48.2%, far exceeding the 13.1% growth rate of its luxury boutiques.

Industry insiders point to consumer investment psychology as the background for this trend. A recent survey of 1,000 domestic consumers by global luxury distribution company Bluebell Group also confirmed this change.

According to the survey, 76% of respondents perceive luxury goods as ‘investment products,’ and 83% stated that they “prefer investing in a single, high-priced product that can be used for a long time.”

In particular, the rise in gold prices and deepening global uncertainty are analyzed to have stimulated consumers’ desire for asset preservation.