Although Franck Muller creations have been available in Thailand for several years, it is only since May they have had an exclusive outlet.

The new shop occupies 60 square metres at the Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok.

The company has other stores in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and Taiwan.

The latest Franck Muller watch is the "Aeternitus", said to be the world's first 1,000-year calendar watch. It sells for US$2 million (Bt74.68 million).

Local Franck-Muller distributor Pendulum Co Ltd was unfazed by the current economic and political uncertainty.

Its marketing director Siriporn Kuprasertsin said the Franck Muller brand continued to sell well.

Its target clientele are well healed and happy to part with money for expensive watches. There had been some delays of purchasing decisions, however.

In addition, younger peo-

ple with high purchasing power tended to buy mechanical

watches, a Franck Muller speciality.

Franck Muller designs are

available at Pendulum boutiques

at Gaysorn, The Emporium, Peninsula and Siam Paragon. There are also sales counters at Central Department Stores at Chidlom and Pinklao.

Pendulum is distributor for

18 high-end watch brands in-

cluding Patek Philippe and Panerai. These brands along with Franck Muller and A Lange & Söhne were its best sellers, Siriporn said.

He predicted the high-end watch market would quieten down between now and the end of the year.

However, with several watch fairs scheduled at Siam Paragon, The Mall and Central stores,

sales may get a boost, Siriporn

said.

Pendulum planed to launch new collections and was continually arranging marketing events. It usually arranged between five and six a year and spent anywhere between Bt30 million and Bt40 million on marketing.

However, it had no plans to add new brands to its stable.

Siriporn said the company was expecting annual sales growth of 10 per cent.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation