The Week In Luxury Watches

A Roundup Of Stories From The Chinese Luxury Watch Market Tissot Debuts Lady Heart Watch At Beijing's Oriental Plaza (via Yoka) This week, Taiwanese actress and Tissot spokeswoman Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛, better known as 大S) was on hand for the launch of Tissot's "Lady Heart" collection, and a pre-Chinese-New-Year celebration, at Beijing's Oriental Plaza mall. The Chinese Timekeeper, New Luxury Brand, Unveiled In Hong Kong (via Luxuo) Luxuo has the scoop on the new Chinese high-end watch brand The Chinese Timekeeper (CTK), which debuted this week at an event in Hong Kong. Drawing inspiration from the designs of Su Song, a Song Dynasty astronomer tasked with building a water-driven astronomical clock tower by Emperor Zhe Zhong, CTK's first watch features a stacked design composed of four layers of stainless steel. The somewhat industrial design is finished in a gunmetal grey, and features subtle nuances like the Chinese character for the number 10 (十) at the 10 o'clock mark and the silhouette of a scholar at the 12 o'clock mark. "Proudly Crafted in China," CTK's watches are sold exclusively through the company's online boutique, with the first six collections limited to editions of no more than 38 pieces. China International Watch Fair Opens In Shenzhen; Rossini Eyes International Markets (via China Economic Web) Yesterday, the China International Watch Fair kicked off at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, featuring more than 500 exhibitors from more than 20 countries. Speaking at the fair, a representative from the Chinese watch brand Rossini (recently named one of the country's 500 most valuable home-grown brands) said, "For Rossini to be short-listed for two consecutive years among the top 500 Asian brands is a great honor, but also the Chinese watch industry is a major blessing." Elaborating, the representative added, "The domestic Chinese watch industry is increasingly focusing on brand building and competing internationally. In recent years, Rossini has enhanced the strength of new product development while sparing no effort in brand building, and as such we'll become increasingly competitive on an international level, in terms of power and influence, to build China's own global watches. That's our target." Sudden Run On Titoni "Plum" Watches, Retro Products Raises Eyebrows At Beijing Pawn Shops (via NetEase) NetEase reports this week that several Beijing pawn shops have been flooded with customers looking for second-hand Titoni "Plum" watches. While it doesn't say what brought on the rush, the article notes that this particular watch met with a cool reaction from the public when it first appeared in China 20 years ago. The article goes on to add that pawn shop owners in the Chinese capital have seen a surge in interest (presumably among younger shoppers) in "retro" items, including record players and vintage film cameras. Regular readers might remember that Jing Daily covered the growing interest in Chinese heritage brands last October.

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The Week In Luxury Watches