Wos br ext 2015 12 23

Watches of Switzerland expansion cost £24m last year

Watches of Switzerland this morning revealed details of its soon-to-open Knightsbridge store which completes a ‘Golden Triangle’ for the retailer in London’s West End.

On course to open in two weeks time, the three-storey Brompton Road store will feature the UK’s largest Patek Philippe in-store boutique , a Rolex boutique and VIP area and eight further branded areas for Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Panerai, Chopard, Breitling, Zenith, TAG Heuer and Longines.

Watches of Switzerland Knightsbridge will also become the first UK retailer of Clerc watches and brings heritage brand, L. Kendall exclusively to the UK.

Brian Duffy, chief executive of both Watches of Switzerland and parent company Aurum Group, said: “The opening of the Knightsbridge Watches of Switzerland showroom marks the conclusion of our Golden Triangle expansion project and the beginning of an exciting new era for both Watches of Switzerland and our unrivalled portfolio of luxury watch brand partners.

“With the Patek Philippe boutique, the Rolex boutique and its many branded areas, Watches of Switzerland, Knightsbridge will offer the area’s diverse customer base a world-class watch-buying experience, presented by our expert consultants. This showroom becomes a global destination for watch lovers and consolidates Watches of Switzerland’s position as the world’s most forward-thinking, customer-focused luxury watch retailer.”

Duffy, WatchPro’s Person of the Year 2016, confirmed that Aurum had spent £24m on retail expansion in the past 12 months and created 110 new jobs, bringing its workforce up to 1,552.

He added that the showroom would be well prepared to make the most of Knightsbridge’s high volume of visitors from the Middle East.

He also revealed that 155 Regent Street made sales of £40m in the past 12 months, £2m down on 2014/15’s sales, something which Duffy attributed to a reshuffle of brands that saw Swatch Group owned Omega and Blancpain join the flagship’s most prominent line-up.

James Buttery

Editor of WatchPro, the WatchPro Hot 100 and The Luxury Report.

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