Raymond Weil To Moderately Price Watch Range

Leading Swiss watch maker Raymond Weil (RW) has decided to 'moderately price' its products to cater to the Indian market in the face of limited success of high-end international brands in the country.

President and chief executive officer Olivier Bernheim said the watches will be priced at Rs 20,000. He said RW is negotiating with a top film actor for becoming their brand ambassador.

"We have always been involved in the art and culture scene and would be involved in India as well. Here we are negotiating with some artists and would be organising local as well as national activity in the art and culture scene soon," Bernheim said.

The company is looking at a growth of 25 per cent from its Indian operations by the end of the current calendar year as a result of its new marketing strategy for the country.

Raymond Weil would also be launching watches for ladies which are like jewellery pieces to develop women's wear market. "As of now, the ratio between sale of men's watches and women's watches is 70:30. We would like it to be 50:50," Bernheim said.

Commenting on the Indian watch industry, Bernheim said, "Indian watch industry is not very sophisticated. The other difference is that ladies concentrate on jewellery and thus not on watches. We want to develop this market."

Raymond Weil would be focusing on promotions, activities and imaging to develop the brand in the country. "We are a global brand and are trend-setters with individual designs. We are targeting only the top end of the market, which is very small in India. We would be positioning ourselves as a dream, which every individual wants to be fulfilled," Bernheim said.

The company has 25 dealers in India and does not plan to increase the number. "We want to control our distribution. We don't want to increase the number of dealers but would definitely want to increase the turnover of our existing dealers," Bernheim said.

Raymond Weil might also have point-of-sale in exclusive showrooms selling only Swiss watches. Since its inception in 1976, the brand has been associated with art and culture. The watches themselves are inspired by operas such as Parsifal, Don Giovanni, Othello and musical themes such as Tema and Tango.