Felix Yap, Ultimate Time's regional operations manager, said yesterday that the current economic slowdown could be a good time to move ahead as many other brands might prefer to wait for the market to improve. This would make it easier for the company to draw interest to its own brands.

The Balmain range, comprising 70 per cent women's watches and 30 per cent men's watches, is targeted at executives aged 25 to 50 and is priced from Bt10,000 to Bt60,000. Balmain is a brand of the Swatch Group and its main competitor is Longines, Yap said.

Ultimate Time will spend six months on building public awareness of the brand, after which it will focus on generating sales. It also intends to appoint a brand ambassador and may sponsor pageants, Yap said.

Meanwhile, the Edox range will be re-launched in October with sporty and high-tech models aimed at younger buyers. Formerly aimed at people aged 35 and over, the new range will target younger executives with prices ranging from Bt20,000 to Bt120,000.

Ultimate Time plans to open an Edox boutique at Central World in October, at a cost of Bt20 million, as well as four more sales counters in other shopping malls by the end of the year.

In addition, Swatch Group plans to set up a local company, Edox (Thailand) Co Ltd, to carry out marketing and has appointed Ultimate Time as its consultant, Yap said.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation