Editor’s Note
This article highlights a notable divergence within the luxury sector, where high-end jewelry and watches continue to thrive despite a broader market slowdown. It examines the strategic expansion of these brands in key markets like South Korea.
Luxury jewelry and watch brands are aggressively expanding their domestic distribution 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 maintaining strong growth. 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 KRW 1.6138 trillion, a 15% increase year-on-year. LVMH Watch & Jewelry Korea (which holds Chaumet, Fred, etc.) 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.
In reality, the perception that “today is the cheapest” is having an impact. Multiple rounds of price increases by high-end jewelry and watch brands have continued; recently, Tiffany, IWC, Breguet, Longines, Cartier, and Van Cleef & Arpels raised prices by a minimum of 5% to a maximum of 10%.
Accordingly, brands are aggressively expanding their distribution networks, with ultra-high-end jewelry items priced in the tens of millions of Korean 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 13 stores, including Galleria Luxury Hall and Gwanggyo Branch.
‘Graff’, one of the five major high jewelers that started in the UK in the 1960s, plans to enter Shinsegae Main Store and Busan Centum City Branch.
French luxury jewelry ‘Boucheron’ quadrupled the size of its Lotte Duty Free store, added Shinsegae Centum City Branch, and will close its Lotte Main Store outlet next month to newly enter Shinsegae Main Store.
‘Qeelin’, the fine jewelry brand of global luxury group Kering, opened its third domestic boutique on the 2nd floor of the new wing (The Estate) of Shinsegae Main Store. This boutique opening is the third, following Lotte Main Store Avenue L in 2023 and Galleria Luxury Hall East earlier this year.
Italian luxury jewelry ‘Pomellato’ has secured a total of 5 stores within 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.
Direct entry and investment by luxury watch brands in the domestic market are also active.
Swiss high-end watch ‘H. Moser & Cie.’, with an average selling price exceeding KRW 100 million, recently announced its entry into the Korean market. H. Moser & Cie. and its distributor, Roca under the Damiani Group, jointly held a press briefing to announce their domestic entry. The first standalone boutique opened at Galleria Luxury Hall East; this store is 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 approximately 629㎡ store is designed as a complex cultural space featuring brand 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.
