More Luxury Brands Open Their Own Stores

By William George Shuster -- JCK Online, 5/1/2006 2:00:00 AM

Continuing a trend, several luxury watch brands recently opened watch shops in major cities. Audemars Piguet now has a boutique on Milan’s Via Montenapoleone, a famous shopping street hosting great names in haute horlogerie and jewelry.

Vacheron Constantin recently opened an 80-square-meter shop in Moscow, continuing ties it’s cultivated with Russia since 1819, when it delivered its first repeater watch to Prince Potemkin. Lucerne watchmaker Carl F. Bucherer opened its first shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, near the Hermitage Palace and Nevsky Prospect, the old imperial city’s prestigious avenue.

IWC opened its first European shop in Zürich, Switzerland, on the famous Bahnhofstrasse shopping avenue. Celebrities at the opening included tennis star Boris Becker, triathlon champion Natascha Badmann, and Zürich mayor Elmar Ledergerber. The German watchmaker also has stores in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Las Vegas; Singapore; and Hong Kong, and will open one in Geneva this year. Swiss brand Blancpain has opened its first boutique on Swiss soil, at Rue du Rhone and the Place de la Fusterie in Geneva. It already has shops in Cannes, France; Paris; New York; and Munich, Germany.