Design and technology
The possessor of a heritage that stretches back to 1854, Timex has long been a mainstay of both domestic and travel retail. But as Timex Duty Free’s Sam Stephenson makes abundantly clear in his interview with Frontier Brands, 2007 is set to witness a significant burst of new activity in the latter channel as the company brings a number of important new products on-stream.
The first of these is the latest addition to the range produced by Timex division the TX Watch Company. Showcased at Baselworld, the TX Diver Style watch is said to deliver accuracy and performance underwater, with features including a fourth hand able to measure depths down to 150m. Robust in scale and boasting luminous hands and bezel markers, Diver Style is an eye-catching addition to a range that finds the company appealing directly to male, urban consumers aged between 25 and 45.
“The strapline for TX products is ‘techno luxury’,” says Stephenson, who is Timex Duty Free’s regional director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. “We’re taking proprietary technology that has taken five years to develop and adding premium material such as sapphire lenses and very high quality steel straps and attachments. On top of that there is exquisite detail on the dial to give a certain ‘wow’ factor when you look at the watch.”
Boasting price-tags ranging from US$300 to 900, the TX brand watches certainly chime nicely with the ongoing TR trend for premiumisation. “We think it sits very well in the travel retail business,” concurs Stephenson.
Elsewhere, Timex Duty Free is continuing to cultivate the Expedition line (“a rugged feel with natural colours on dials and straps, and high quality resistant leathers”), and its range of men’s and women’s classics.
The company is also in the process of launching a new set of products conceived by celebrated Milan-based designer Giorgio Galli, who has worked with Versace and Nautica, among others, in the past. “He has really looked at the history of Timex, taken some of our classic styles and reinvented them. The result is the Timex T Series, which will be available in three different movements – perpetual calendar, chronograph and three-hand movement.”
With a flurry of new products reaching the market, Timex Duty Free is also working on its approach to display, merchandising and promotion. A new campaign is being introduced this year, while Stephenson confirms that the company is now “starting to do a lot more” in the way of in-store activity. “We’ve got a series of plans that have been presented for TX and we’re going to start to see how we can run some of those,” he adds.
Evidently enthused by the company’s latest developments, Stephenson believes that Timex’s emphasis on “design and technology” will stand it in good stead as travellers’ expectations of the watches category continue to evolve. “People are expecting better quality products, with design obviously of paramount importance,” he says. “If you can couple that with a technological base, I think you have got a very good idea of how to actually present the products.” n
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