Sincere Fine Watches to focus on growing segment of ‘independents’
Its SHH boutique concept also comes at a time when major brands like Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin have cut out middleman retailers to sell directly to their customers
CORTINA Holdings wants its recently acquired Sincere Fine Watches to grow in a more-exclusive-but-expanding segment of the watch market – the arena for lesser-known “independent” brands, rather than major ones like Rolex and Patek Philippe.
Spearheading the drive in this direction, reinforced by a parallel push for Sincere’s Franck Muller line of timepieces, is the SHH (short for Sincere Haute Horlogerie) boutique, which opens at Marina Bay Sands on Wednesday (Sep 7).
Displayed in the 100-square-metre boutique are watches bearing names like Greubel Forsey, Gronefeld, CVSTOS, Ferdinand Berthoud, H. Moser & Cie, Lang & Heyne, Laurent Ferrier and Moritz Grossman — names that are likely unheard of for average watch customers. These time pieces, not tied to big watch groups like Swatch and Richemont, don’t come cheap; their prices start from S$30,000 and go into the millions.
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