Cartier CEO doesn’t intend to climb onto smartwatch bandwagon

The jeweler Cartier, one of the leading luxury watchmakers, will not be climbing onto the smartwatch bandwagon, CEO Stanislas de Quercize told the AFP.

For de Quercize, internet-connected watches, which began to be produced in greater quantities with the launch of the Apple Watch, "is entirely complementary" to the classic watch, and is "another way to get information, but it doesn’t have the same value: when you look at the time on a smartphone or connected watch, they don't inform you of the preciousness of passing time." 

It’s useful, but there’s "no emotion" with a smartwatch, "while all of our watches are strongly connected by emotion," he said. 

On Monday, the luxury house reopened its iconic Champs Elysées store following eight months of work as part of a series of renovations and new openings around the world. The brand has a total of 286 stores.

With currency fluctuations, a soaring Swiss franc, instability in Hong Kong, anticorruption measures in China (which have curbed business gifts) and the effects of the economic crisis, the luxury sector is facing multiple changes, and brands must adapt their strategies in order to continue to sell. 

In response, Stanislas de Quercize is favoring a strategy based on increasing "demand". Since the house’s founding in 1847 in Paris, "you can imagine the number of currency crises, world wars - that’s part of life. But what remains are jewelry and watches," he said. 

Cartier is the Swiss company Richemont’s largest subsidiary, the world leader in luxury behind the French company LVMH, which owns leading brands such as Van Cleef & Arpels and Jaeger-LeCoultre.