Luxury watch market faces high tech competition

(17 Mar 2016) SWITZERLAND WATCHES SOURCE: AP HORIZONS, LIFESTYLE, HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY RESTRICTIONS: HORIZONS CLIENTS AND AP LIFESTYLE, HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY CLIENTS ONLY LENGTH: 5:29 AP Television Basel, Switzerland - 16 March 2016 1. Various of "Billionaire" by Jacob and Co., a diamond watch selling for 18-million US dollars 2. Wide of entrance to Baselworld watch and jewellery fair 3. Various of man looking at watch 4. Various of cocktail party at Baselworld watch fair 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul O'Neil, Editor-in-Chief, Worldtempus, luxury watch news website: "The industry has had one of its worst years in recent times. When we say worst, maybe we should put that in to context. After years of quite double digit growth when the industry has had it good - they had a less good year. Things are still not too bad, people are still buying watches. But, how do brands react to that? Well, with all the creativity we see here, with all the innovativeness, one of the few things that remains for them is the price. We have about 500 different brands exhibiting here so they have to compete to set themselves apart. We are seeing increasingly that's being done on price." 6. Various of TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer-02T, shown for the first time at Baselworld, costing 19,900 Swiss francs (approx. 20,100 US dollars), a limited edition of 250 items 7. Set-up shot of Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer: "There are so many factors outside. Syria, the refugees, the price of oil, the different currency wars, Russia, the embargo to Russia, Ukraine. There are so many factors, that you start to become careful. And then you hear that some tourists are not coming to Paris because of terrorism, you have Daesh (referring to Islamic State), you have Al-Qaida… You start to become careful. So, although we perform during the first three months (this year) so well, I stay very careful." 9. Various of Samsung Gear S2 with design from De Grisogono, shown for the first time at Baselworld, will retail for 14,900 Swiss Francs (approx. 15,050 US dollars), available worldwide in Summer 2016 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer: "It is not a threat to all the Swiss brands. 80 percent of the Swiss watch industry exports are done by brands where the first price of their range starts at three or four or five thousand Swiss francs, five thousand. Those brands, how can they be threatened by a connected watch that retails (for) 600, or 800, or 1,000 or even 1,500 (US) dollars?" 11. Various of Samsung Gear S2 with design from De Grisogono 12. SOUNDBITE (English) David Lowes, Chief Marketing Officer of Samsung Electronics Europe: "What's really important about the watch industry is that people are interested in it. There's innovation. There's new news. People are stimulated to talk about watches. So, we think smartwatches, people are getting very interested in them. And, actually therefore people want to know what the possibilities are, how they can be used from a design perspective, not just a technology perspective. So really in terms of blending design and technology at its finest really is what we think people are looking for in smartwatches at the moment." 13. Various of Astronomia Sky by Jacob and Co, selling for around 680,000 Swiss francs (approx. 687,000 US dollars) 14. Various of Twin Turbo (black frame), released at Baselworld by Jacob and Co., will be available for 360,000 Swiss francs (approx. 363,730 US dollars) 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Jacob Arabo, Founder of Jacob and Co.: 16. Various of Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, shown for first time at Baselworld LEADIN: STORYLINE It's a unique piece combining 18 karat white gold and 360 carat diamonds. ==== You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ac5033ea08ede791cdeed483e7b33abb Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork