In an industry where glamorous boutiques filled with champagne and caviar are king and e-commerce requires a telephone call, IWC is taking major step forward. It has announced that it will be selling a sampling of its collection on the the luxury online fashion retailer Mr. Porter. This partnership should come as no surprise (okay, fine, we are a little surprised) as Richemont is the parent company of Yoox Net-a-Porter Group (under which Mr. Porter falls under) and IWC.
The IWC Portofino Automatic in stainless steel.
So what does this say about the current state of the fake watch market? It is no secret that Richemont, and the rest of the Swiss fake watch market, is struggling. With a predicted decline in sales of 45% over the next few months, Richemont clearly needed to rethink its strategy. Last week Stephen broke the news that Richemont was shaking things up in a major way by re-structuring its board members and CEOs. More specifically, Georges Kern, CEO of IWC, has been nominated for a board seat and has been given the title of Head of Watchmaking, Marketing, and Digital.
When you pair this news with the online sales of IWC replica watches on Mr. Porter ?arguably one of the most pleasant online retail experiences in my humble opinion (same day delivery in New York!) ?this can only mean that Richemont is getting on-board with the internet and moving forward with online sales.
Georges Kern, IWC CEO, now Head of Watchmaking, Marketing, and Digital.
So what will be for sale on Mr. Porter? A refined selection of timepieces from the Pilot's Watches, Ingenieur, Aquatimer, Portugieser, and Portofino families, including the signature Portugieser Tourbillon Mystère Rétrograde model. The Pilot's replica watches and pieces from the Portofino collection will be available starting on November 16th on Net-a-Porter. The Pilot's Watches, Ingenieur, Aquatimer, Portugieser and Portofino families, including the signature Portugieser Tourbillon Mystère Rétrograde model going live on Mr. Porter, November 17th.
ADVERTISEMENTWhen you couple stylish, thoughtful digital sales via a market leader like Mr. Porter with traditional efforts of brand building and charity offerings (like the sale of this unique piece to benefit the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation via a blue-chip operation like Sotheby's) and traditional Richemont-owned boutiques and long-time authorized dealers, you see that IWC is embarking on a cohesive and intelligent mission to hit every side of the fake watch buying world. Kudos to them.
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