Sincere Fine Watches to focus on growing segment of ‘independents’

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.

Sincere’s chief executive Ong Ban says their names aren’t the point. It’s what these watches project that matters. In the SHH boutique, the brands are not displayed in backdrops. “Everyone just puts their (watches) in the showcase,” he says.

Clearly targeted at serious collectors and watch connoisseurs, as well as the well-heeled and high rollers, the boutique is strategically located opposite the casino at Marina Bay Sands (MBS). Its opening does not only coincide with the boom in the watch industry; it is also when Singapore has lifted nearly all Covid restrictions, and the country is virtually back to normalcy. 

But the SHH is also coming at a time when big boys like Richemont are moving to drop the middleman retailer, and selling direct to customers. Already, leading observers are wondering whether there’s a future for watch retailers.

It is a global phenomenon. Family-owned Audemars Piguet and Richemont’s Vacheron Constantin and A. Lange & Sohne have already pulled out of the Cortina and Sincere stables; IWC Schaffhausen, owned by Richemont, has served notice of its departure.

Asked about this trend, Mr Ong says: “Sincere has always served collectors and connoisseurs… If a (major) brand decides for whatever reason that they need to part with us, it’s our role to bring in other brands which customers will enjoy.”

He adds that by 2024, Sincere would have been around for 70 years: “It’s a long time in any business — and we will be here for another 70 years. The reason we can continue for so long is, firstly, we have enough passion... (so) if things are shifting in the industry, (we) must be very agile (to adapt to it).”

He adds that, secondly, Sincere, which also operates 2 Franck Muller boutiques and 3 multi-brand shops, has been able to maintain a value proposition with all its stakeholders: “And the value proposition of Sincere is very clear: I present to you, in our opinion, some of the best watches in the industry. I also present to you, in our opinion, some of the best brands which we think will be the future stars,” he says. “If you have this mentality, you will always be (moving forward), because new watchmakers and new watch companies are born all the time. Some fade away, some come on board.”

The limited production capacity of independent brands leaves little room for more than one SHH boutique in Singapore. But Sincere, tipped to turn profitable this year after a spell of losses, will still open 2 more boutiques outside Singapore in the next 2 years – one in Kuala Lumpur and the other, in Bangkok. It has also explored the Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China markets for a further 2 more boutiques after 2024.

“Five cities, 5 shops (would have) already taken a lion’s share of the production,” Ong says. “But growth is (still) possible because some of the independents have grown quite sizeable today. They’re also looking for a way to consolidate their distribution. Moving forward, they want to have fewer, but bigger points of sale.”

The SHH boutique in MBS was a direct outcome of Cortina’s acquisition. After the paperwork was done and the sale formalised in March last year, Cortina’s CEO Raymond Lim signalled that he wanted to “expand and put investments in Sincere”.

Ong recalls: “He studied our core competence – what we are good at, basically. SHH, in hibernation since 2019, became one of the concepts he wanted to revisit, because we had already started to secure many (more) independent brands in the last 6 or 7 years.”

The idea behind the boutique and its actual beginning dates back to 2005, when the Singapore Tourism Board, in its effort to attract more visitors to Singapore, encouraged homegrown companies like Sincere to offer products and services unique to Singapore. With this official nudge, Sincere opened the first SHH outlet in the Hilton Hotel (now Voco Orchard) and stocked it. 

That boutique, closed after its lease expired in 2019, was a showcase of Sincere’s core competence at its best. Living up to its strength in brand management, Sincere built and promoted many of the independent brands in the boutique. These included the likes of A. Lange & Sohne, Franck Muller, F. P. Journe, Greubel Forsey, Panerai and Gronefeld, which have since earned deep respect and come to be sought after by both collectors and general watch buyers. Lange and Panerai were snapped up by Richemont and are now part of its stable. 

By doing its homework, keeping its ears close to the ground and staying in constant touch with the watch community, Sincere has honed a nose for picking winners among the independent brands. Ong says independent brands must at least have a strong track record, financial stability and after-sales capacity to earn shelf space in Sincere’s boutiques.

The good news for Sincere today is – thanks to the hot demand for its time pieces – that even more independent brands are appearing in the market. Yet, Ong points out, selling independent watch brands is a “very different” business from selling the major brands. Customers looking to pick up a watch of a major brand usually already know what they want by the time they step into the shop. The transaction is often quickly done, he says.

The opposite is the case for the independent brands. Customers need to be engaged, time has to be spent with them. This is why half the space in the new SHH boutique is designed for the entertainment of these watch enthusiasts and customers. “Here, they have the comfort and time to look at the watches at ease, and have a good time,” Ong says.