Master Gyrotourbillon 1 decorated with diamonds [Courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre]
A 547,830 US dollar Swiss timepiece decorated with 114 diamonds was on sale for the first time in South Korea Monday for a rare luxury watch show launched by a major department store chain.
The Hyundai Department group said the show would start at its main department store in an upscale Apgujeong shopping area in Seoul's affluent Gangnam district from Monday. It would be held at other outlets through May 5.
Hundreds of luxury watches from 33 luxury brands will be on display. The most expensive timepiece is Jaeger-LeCoultre's 630 million won ($547,830) rare art, Master Gyrotourbillon 1 decorated with diamonds weighing a total of 6.7 carats. Hyundai is Jaeger-LeCoultre's first outlet in South Korea
In 2015, exports of Swiss watches fell 3.3 percent on-year to 21.8 Swiss francs. Sales dropped in its key Asian markets -- Hongkong, Japan, and China -- but South Korea was an exception.
Hyundai and other department stores saw sales of luxury watches surging up to 30 percent last year thanks to a luxury watch boom that led to the opening of new shops by Swiss watchmakers including Panerai, Breguet, Piaget and Audemars Piguet.
South Korean customers have snapped up expensive hand-made Swiss watches for decorative beauty and status symbols. Hyundai said 30 percent of luxury watch buyers at its stores were in their 20s and 30s last year.
Foreign brands accounted for 95 percent of South Korea's watch market estimated at 2.3 trillion won in 2014 while domestic watchmakers have been hit by a protracted business slump at home and abroad.
Romanson, a leading domestic watchmaker, said it would change its name to J Estina, its jewelry brand launched in 2003. The change comes as sales of jewelry and accessories make up more than 80 percent of its total sales. Last year its watch division posted an operating loss of four billion won on sales of 22 billion won.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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