Christian Paul is one of the hottest Australian watch brands out there and its ambitions for the UK market have just become realistic after it came to a distribution agreement with Inter City Watches. Christian Paul’s founder Timothy Caruana goes into more detail with WatchPro.
WatchPro: How was has Christian Paul been established as a brand?
Timothy Caruana: Christian Paul launched on the 1st July 2015.
WP: What was the inspiration behind Christian Paul?
TC: Christian Paul is inspired by family and takes its name from my son Christian Paul. Also the inspiration of Australia, one the most multicultural countries in the world, full of global inspiration which is encapsulated in its own culture.
WP: What is the brand’s unique selling point?
TC: The unique selling points are: the origin for the designs being here in Sydney; the design themselves being original and on trend with fashion of the season in hand; and the release dates being more frequent than traditionally seen in the watch market – we have adapted similarities to clothing brands release dates.
WP: What was your background before you founded the brand?
TC: My background was in eCommerce working for Groupon and Living Social working in product development, creating product that will be the latest trend in all categories.
WP: How have things gone since its inception, both in Australia and internationally?
TC: In Australia we have seen great growth in the market from nationwide roll-out of major department retailer Myer, to over 200+ independent retailers. Internationally we can be found in New Zealand, Canada, USA, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea, Bulgaria, Iceland and a lot to come for 2018.
WP: What potential do you think Christian Paul has in the UK market?
TC: I believe success in the UK will be achieved even though we know its such a competitive market. We look forward to the competition and we believe we have something unique to offer customers in the UK. Also Australia and UK have a long and rich history so it just makes sense.
WP: How will you be looking to expand here in the UK?
TC: We have secured a distribution agreement with ICW and we see this as the forward with the UK market. With their guidance we will take a similar approach to Australia. Securing major retailers will be a focus and also a strong focus on independent retailers.
