Cyma's New Watch Series Specifically Designed For Chinese HNWIs#
Actor Liu Ye and Cyma's Huang Chuang at the ceremony
Looking to increase its visibility in the contentious China luxury watch market, and following the lead of Hublot, Rolex, Maurice Lacroix and TAG Heuer, the Swiss watchmaker Cyma has appointed a Chinese celebrity, Liu Ye, as its newest brand ambassador. Currently seen in theaters portraying a young Mao Zedong in "Beginning of the Great Revival", the 33-year-old Liu is one of China's best-known young actors, having previously worked with directors such as Zhang Yimou (Curse of the Golden Flower), Chen Kaige (The Promise) and John Woo (Blood Brothers).
At Liu's appointment ceremony this week at 1933 Shanghai (1933老场坊), Huang Chuang, CEO of Cyma Greater China, premiered the brand's new print advertisements, as Liu joined several models in displaying the latest collection of Cyma watches. In an overt attempt to cater to the demands of China's Swiss watch-obsessed HNWIs, Cyma unveiled four new China-focused models, the Grand Maestro, Grand Imperiu, Grand Skeleton, and Europa at the ceremony.
Founded in 1862, Cyma opened its first mainland China branch in Shanghai in April 2010. Currently, the company is available at more than 130 locations throughout China, mostly in top-tier cities. Over the next five years, as China Daily recently pointed out, the watchmaker plans to expand to 500 points of sale.
Liu and Huang play traditional Chinese drums at the ceremony this week
As Jing Daily has previously noted, with China becoming one of the world's fastest-growing luxury watch markets, many top Swiss watchmakers have tailored collections to Chinese tastes and signed endorsement deals with Chinese celebrities. While it may not be as well-known in China as competitors like Rolex, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, last year Cyma showed its interest in cracking the market by releasing a set of limited-edition, China-only watches featuring Chinese characters like 福 (fu, happiness), 禄 (lu, fortune) and 寿 (shou, longevity).
So will Cyma's China-facing collections and endorsements by Liu Ye be enough to help the brand compete with entrenched leaders in the China watch market? Pardon the pun, but only time will tell.