Fashion Houses Take On The Watch World

Nowadays, there is also Fendi fun and feminine Crazy Carats collection and Bottega Veneta’s unisex BVX range to choose from.

Fashion brands love finding ways of accessing new customers via accessories. Ralph Lauren recently confessed 50 to 70 per cent of its watch buyers are new to the brand, while during 2010 watches and jewellery was the category that enjoyed the greatest growth at luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns TAG Heuer, Zenith and Christian Dior.

A perhaps surprising number of fashionista brands are very serious indeed about their watchmaking credentials. Chanel was the first fashion brand to create its own Swiss watch factory and in the late 1980s launched La Premier, the first expensive watch from a luxury fashion house.

Both Chanel with its J12 and Louis Vuitton with its Tambour, began by constructing cases with the potential to house both chronographs and tourbillons. Ermenegildo Zegna and Bottega Veneta have teamed up with the owners of prestigious Swiss watchmakes Girard Perregaux, while Ralph Lauren has inked deals for watch movements from heritage watchmakers Piaget, Jaeger-leCoultre and IWC. Visit TIME²'s Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC's concessions in Selfridges.

All of which seems to confirm that for some people, a mobile simply won’t do.