The cult of “collectability” is celebrated in a New York exhibition curated by Watches of Switzerland, the luxury watch retailer which has spent millions branching out into the United States.
The British watch and jewellery business, part of a group which includes Goldsmiths and Mappin and Webb, has collaborated with New York-based Stadium Goods – described as the “world’s premier sneaker and streetwear marketplace” – for the “Sneaker Time” show which has just opened its doors.
The exhibition features 15 combinations of posh timepieces paired up with rare trainers, and explores the obsessive nature of collectors.
It is on show in the redesigned lower level of the flagship Watches of Switzerland store in the New York district of SoHo.
Watches of Switzerland executive vice president David Hurley said: “Our SoHo flagship has been a game changer since day one.
“And now with the renovation of our lower level and innovative programming like Sneaker Time, we are creating a dynamic new platform that will allow us to engage with an even broader community.
“We’re all about giving people an experience they can’t get anywhere else.”
The Watches of Switzerland Group, which has its Ƶ headquarters on the outskirts of Leicester, listed on the London Stock Exchange in May, when it was valued at around £650 million.
Chief executive Brian Duffy told Business-Live in the summer that the group was planning to invest an estimated £30 million a year in its Ƶ and US stores.
Two years ago it bought US jewellery chain Mayor’s for almost $105 million.
The US deal gave it 17 stores – 15 with Rolex concessions – in Florida and Georgia, and a US headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Today there are 23 American stores, including two in New York – one in the new Hudson Yards complex in Manhattan which opened in March, and the 8,000 sq ft store which opened in Manhattan’s SoHo neighbourhood, last November.
There are also four shops in Las Vegas, while a new Watches of Switzerland branch opened in the $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor Resort last summer.
The US contributed 23 per cent of the total group sales of £773 million last year.
It is the Ƶ’s biggest luxury watch retailer with more than 35 per cent of market share.
The new exhibition indicates how timepiece collecting fits into the culture of “hype”, as does the sneaker marketplace where fans are prepared to spend thousands on a pair of trainers.
It features timepieces from brands including Girard Perregaux, Grand Seiko, Hublot, HYT, IWC, Jacob & Co, Tudor, and Ulysse Nardin, paired with iconic and rare sneakers provided by Stadium Goods.
Highlights from Stadium Goods’ “trophy case” of rare sneakers includes the Nike “Paranorman” – yours for £5,000 – which has been matched with a new Drop watch from HYT, featuring the brand’s distinctive skull design.
The Nike Fragment x Air Jordan 1 – which can fetch around £4,000 according to the StockX website – designed by Japanese designer Hiroshi Fujiwara, the so-called “godfather of streetwear”, which is paired with the Grand Seiko Drive Nissan GT-R 50th Anniversary Limited Edition watch.
A pair of black and white ultra-rare Adidas NMD Hu Trail sneakers designed by pop star Pharrell in collaboration with Chanel, is paired with a special edition Jacob & Co Epic X Chrono Hypebeast timepiece that shares similar design cues.
John McPheters, co-founder and co-CEO of Stadium Goods said: “One of the founding concepts behind Stadium Goods is the idea that sneakers and streetwear are the new luxury items for today’s young consumers.
“We come from a culture that venerates the design and beauty of sneakers in much the same way connoisseurs of fine watches approach classic timepieces.
“It makes perfect sense to us to display some of our most coveted sneakers alongside these iconic watches, and we’re thrilled that Watches of Switzerland sees that same synergy.”
Watches of Switzerland continues to grow its profile in the US, opening in the new American Dream shopping complex in the New Jersey, Meadowlands early next year.
The group has 129 core showrooms across the Ƶ and US – including 20 dedicated single brand stores in partnership with Rolex, TAG Heuer, Omega and Breitling.
It also has a presence at Heathrow Airport in terminals 2,3,4 and 5 as well as five online transactional websites.
