Luxury watch distributor expanding retail outlets

MANILA, Philippines - The Timeline Group, one of the country’s oldest distributors of luxury timepieces, is pursuing more retail ventures nationwide.

The watch distributor and retailer is introducing more brands, banking on the growing demand from local collectors, its top official said.

“I think moving forward, the trend is actually going into retailing because a lot of international brands are putting up their own shops,” Timeline president and chief operating officer Ray Jacinto said.

The Philippines is just one of a few countries that still has distributors as watch companies have opted to put up stand-alone stores in the many countries, Jacinto said.

To date, the Timeline Group has 25 multibrand boutiques and sells various brands in 25 department stores including SM and Rustan’s. It is the company that brought Tempus, Mytym, NoCurfew, Rado and Tissot in the Philippines.

Last week, Timeline Group and the Japanese maker of Citizen opened the first free-standing store in SM Makati.

“Citizen still wants to open additional monobrand stores. They will assess the feasibility of more stores,” Jacinto said.

“We still hope we can open a few more stores around Metro Manila, maybe an additional three to four hopefully by next year,” Jacinto said.

Timeline Group started as a distributor of premium and luxury watch in 1963 while retail operations began in December 2001.

The company’s growth is hinged on the increasingly discriminating taste of the local market.

“Watches now are not just for keeping time, it actually becomes a lifestyle...people in the professional business need watches to represent them,” Jacinto said.

Jacinto said timekeeping can already be performed by almost all gadgets like smartphones but the premium timepiece bring prestige to owners.

For instance, buyers of Japanese watch are more focused on technology and looks while Swiss watch enthusiasts are more of collectors, Jacinto said.

To cater to increasing demand, Timeline Group will introduce more foreign brands.

“We are planning to put up another concept. We would also like to expand Tempus store for the Swiss brands,” Jacinto said. Next month, it is also opening the second Rado store in Shangri-La.

“Right now we are not in the talks, but we are trying to looks at the market on what will be the possible brands that would fit into the Philippine market,” Jacinto said.

Timeline Group is looking at other European countries that are also makers of quality timepiece.