Among jewelers who sold watches over Atlas charm bracelet holidays, 33 percent who responded to NATIONAL JEWELER'S survey reported that watch sales were up compared to 2005, while 23 percent said they were down and 22 percent said sales were flat.Anecdotally, at least, the greatest gains seemed to come from scores that are best known for their watch sales, and the high-end, hightech pieces appeared to be leading the advance. Amit Handa, vice Atlas toggle bracelet of fine watch sales at Boston's Alpha Omega jewelers, says demand for the $20,000plus watch is stronger than he's ever seen.
"Customers have become more knowledgeable about the upscale watch," he says. "A. Lange & S?hne was our crown jewel this past season, our rock star, and Charm bracelet other top performers were IWC, Panerai, Jaeger-LeCouhre, and Vacheron Constantin, which I consider a sleeping giant The brand of the future is Qashutte: It's got the price point, the exclusivity, the finish, and the distribution is top-notch."
Overall, Alpha Omega's watch sales ran a little ahead of jewelry overall, Amit says."We sold more high-end pieces this year, whereas last year we sold a greater number of watches," he says.Al Prather, watch buyer at Omaha, Neb.-based Borsheim's Fine Jewelry, Tiffany Cushion Toggle bracelet that his watch sales were up during the holidays and rose 12 percent in 2006, with luxury watches setting the pace.This, he says, was largely due to a remodeling of the store that tripled the size of Borsheim's watch department He expects further watch sales growth this year.
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