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Hermes wants shoppers to bag one of its timepieces
By Zhang Yi |
March 29, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN talking about Hermes, most people would think first of its leather goods, silk and perfume but few would mention the watches. However, the first Hermes watch was made in 1928, almost 10 years earlier than the first of its most popular scarfs.
"That's why I believe we have to open more stores in China so that customers will learn about our watches as a very important part of the Hermes family," said Eric Grellety Bosviel, managing director of La Montre Hermes Pacific.
"However, many people don't dare to open the doors of a Hermes store," he added. "Even when they are inside, the area for watch display is quite small."
Three years and a half ago, the first stand-alone Hermes watch shop on the Chinese mainland was launched in Kunming, Yunnan Province. Business was not as good as Bosviel had expected but when he opened another store in Anshan, Hebei Province, in northern China, it was very successful.
"The free standing store is more accessible to the public," he said. "We also have more space to display a complete watch range."
After Hebei, three more Hermes watch stores were opened in Beijing and a fourth will be added this year, followed by one more stand-alone store in Shanghai.
According to Bosviel, the speciality of Hermes watches is best epitomized by the "H"- a well-balanced letter.
"H has two legs," he said. "Hermes watches represent a good balance between Swiss technical know-how and Parisian style."
One of its most popular watches, Kelly, was created in 1975, inspired by the famous Hermes bag. The Cape Cod, a paragon of Hermes timepieces, is based on an idea by Martin Margiela, a revered fashion designer.
Complicated
Like many other fashion brand watch companies, Hermes has put more effort into developing complicated watches in recent years and in 2006 acquired a 25 percent stake in Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier. The house's first mechanical self-winding movement, H1, was launched last year.
Most recently, it introduced its latest model, the Arceau Moonphase Retrograde pocket watch, at Baselworld 2009 in Switzerland, the world's largest annual event for the watch and jewelry industry.
The rose or white gold model features the movement by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, which is equipped with a moon-phase mechanism requiring no correction for 122 years and 46 days. The date is displayed by a retrograde hand moving across a 225-degree arc of a circle graduated from one to 31 days. Upon reaching the last day of the month, the hand returns to its starting point.
The sapphire crystal case-back enables people to admire the precision and the manual execution of the 306 parts of the calibre, featuring bridges and oscillating weights sprinkled with the brand's signature "H."
"That's why I believe we have to open more stores in China so that customers will learn about our watches as a very important part of the Hermes family," said Eric Grellety Bosviel, managing director of La Montre Hermes Pacific.
"However, many people don't dare to open the doors of a Hermes store," he added. "Even when they are inside, the area for watch display is quite small."
Three years and a half ago, the first stand-alone Hermes watch shop on the Chinese mainland was launched in Kunming, Yunnan Province. Business was not as good as Bosviel had expected but when he opened another store in Anshan, Hebei Province, in northern China, it was very successful.
"The free standing store is more accessible to the public," he said. "We also have more space to display a complete watch range."
After Hebei, three more Hermes watch stores were opened in Beijing and a fourth will be added this year, followed by one more stand-alone store in Shanghai.
According to Bosviel, the speciality of Hermes watches is best epitomized by the "H"- a well-balanced letter.
"H has two legs," he said. "Hermes watches represent a good balance between Swiss technical know-how and Parisian style."
One of its most popular watches, Kelly, was created in 1975, inspired by the famous Hermes bag. The Cape Cod, a paragon of Hermes timepieces, is based on an idea by Martin Margiela, a revered fashion designer.
Complicated
Like many other fashion brand watch companies, Hermes has put more effort into developing complicated watches in recent years and in 2006 acquired a 25 percent stake in Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier. The house's first mechanical self-winding movement, H1, was launched last year.
Most recently, it introduced its latest model, the Arceau Moonphase Retrograde pocket watch, at Baselworld 2009 in Switzerland, the world's largest annual event for the watch and jewelry industry.
The rose or white gold model features the movement by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, which is equipped with a moon-phase mechanism requiring no correction for 122 years and 46 days. The date is displayed by a retrograde hand moving across a 225-degree arc of a circle graduated from one to 31 days. Upon reaching the last day of the month, the hand returns to its starting point.
The sapphire crystal case-back enables people to admire the precision and the manual execution of the 306 parts of the calibre, featuring bridges and oscillating weights sprinkled with the brand's signature "H."
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