Life is not easy at the volume end of the watch market today, which is why this year’s finalist deserve particular congratulations for innovation and execution.
And there is an interesting mixture of business models between the shortlist of finalists ranging from high street giants like Argos, John Lewis and Debenhams to specialist jewellers F. Hinds and H. Samuel.
It is possible to make a comparison of like-for-like in our qualitative results in the graph below.
But there can be only one winner for a category voted on by 129 executives from watch brands operating in the UK, and that winner for 2019 is H. Samuel.
The Signet Jewelers-owned chain has maintained market share, despite the overall value of sales of watches priced at under £500 contracting by double digit percentages year-on-year.
David Merriman, managing director of Time Products presented the award on behalf of the category’s sponsor Sekonda to Malcolm Ediker, retail buyer for H. Samuel.
Executives at watch brands were asked in an invitation-only poll to give their views on the quality of retailers in a short list of finalists. A weighted score (shown in brackets alongside the retailers’ names) is given to each choice of ‘Very Good’, ‘Excellent’ and ‘Exceptional’ to decide the winner.
terrific award for a worthy winner and brand in H Samuel, congratulations to all