MONTH IN REVIEW
www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk
TRADE SHOWS
Raymond Weil
pulls out of
Baselworld 2019
Watchmaking company Raymond
Weil has decided not to attend the
international watch fair Baselworld 2019,
after participating in it for over 40 years.
JEWELLERY DESIGNERS
Museum of
the Jewellery
Quarter
announces its
first ‘Jeweller in
Residence’
Fiona Harris has been announced by
the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
to be its first ‘Jeweller in Residence’,
a project which aims to support
emerging jewellery designers.
A statement by group said that in
a world that is “constantly evolving”,
communication is based on a more
“direct and spontaneous process”
of distribution, and added the group
is more “client oriented”, rather than
B2B, which is “mainly what Baselworld
represents”.
Elie Bernheim, CEO of the family-
owned independent brand, said:
“Evolutions in the watch industry
have pushed us to review our
strategy. One must know how to
adapt to one’s era.”
The announcement comes after
the news of Swiss watch giant
Swatch Group announcing that it will
not be returning to the trade show
earlier this year.
The announcement was made in
an interview with its CEO Nick Hayek
published in Swiss newspaper NZZ
am Sonntag, that the group which
owns brands such as Omega, Tissot
and Longines will not be present at the
show in 2019.
Hayek said: “The MCH Group,
which organises Baselworld, is clearly
more concerned with optimising and
amortising its new building – which,
incidentally, is largely financed by the
watch industry during the fairs – than
it is in having the courage to make real
progress and to bring about true and
profound changes.
“Everything has become more
transparent, faster-paced and more
spontaneous. The traditional, annual
watch fairs are therefore no longer
useful for us.”
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JEWELLERY FOCUS
Harris, who previously studied at
Birmingham City University School
of Jewellery, is the first designer to
be crowned with the title. As part
of the prize Harris, who is based in
Nottingham, has been given the
opportunity to work from the Museum
of the Jewellery Quarter’s workshop
for the next year and have her bespoke
handcrafted jewellery sold in the
museum’s acclaimed shop.
The initiative by Museum of the
Jewellery Quarter, in partnership with
Birmingham City University’s School
of Jewellery, aims to offer opportunities
to up-and-coming jewellery designers
and asked entrants to design a two-
piece jewellery range inspired by the
historic Smith & Pepper jewellery
manufacturing firm at the museum.
STAT OF THE MONTH
£500,000
That’s the value of the
jewellery stolen by
armed jewellery thieves
at the Mappin and Webb
boutique at Gleneagles
Hotel, who have now
been jailed.
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I am absolutely
thrilled and honoured
to be chosen to be
the first Jeweller
in Residence at the
museum and I am
excited to get started
and finalise my designs.
Fiona Harris, Jeweller in Residence,
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
WATCHES
Timex Group to
manufacture and
distribute Ted
Baker watches
Fashion retailer Ted Baker and watch
manufacturing firm Timex Group
have entered into a global product
licensing agreement.
The move
will see Timex
distribute and
manufacture Ted
Baker branded
watches, and
according to the retailer the new
agreement will allow the group to
“underpin its own global plans with a
unique product offering in watches”
that “fully compliments” the brand’s
apparel and accessory collections.
Ray Kelvin, founder and CEO of
Ted Baker, said: “This is an exciting
opportunity for Ted Baker to drive
accelerated growth in our watch
business by leveraging the Timex Group
global footprint and infrastructure, in line
with our strategy to further develop Ted
Baker as a global lifestyle brand.”
Tobias Reiss Schmidt, president
and CEO of Timex Group, added:
“We are delighted to bring Timex
Group’s expertise and long history
as an authentic watchmaker to Ted
Baker and look forward to producing
exciting and innovative timepieces for
their consumers.”
November 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk