LONDON — Swatch Group has become the latest European luxury giant to snap up real estate on New Bond Street, the British capital’s most expensive retail strip.
Swatch said Friday it has purchased the building at 171 New Bond Street, which its brand, Harry Winston, has occupied since 2006. The transaction was worth 90 million Swiss francs, or about 81 million pounds.
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The building, built in 1856, has more than 6,000 square feet spread over five floors. Harry Winston reopened the salon space in 2016 following a nine-month renovation. It showcases fine jewelry, timepieces and some of “the world’s rarest diamonds and precious stones,” according to Swatch Group.
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Swatch said that in the first half of the year, it acquired a 14,500-square-foot space at 32-33 Old Bond Street for around 120 million Swiss francs, or 108 million pounds.
The building is known as Swan House and is a mixed-use space, which has been fully let to Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent for 10 years, according to Savills.
Swatch Group said it also purchased a store on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in the first six months of the year.
With the investment on New Bond Street, Swatch joins luxury marquee names including Kering, Compagnie Financière Richemont, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Chanel, all of which own at least one property on the swanky Mayfair shopping street.
As reported, New Bond Street is the fourth most expensive street globally, and the second most expensive shopping street in Europe, according to a report published by Cushman & Wakefield late last year.
Cushman described the street as “by far the most expensive street to locate a shop in the U.K.,” with average prime rents standing last year at $1,361 a square foot, more than double that of Sloane Street at $607.
Many of the properties on the street are directly owned by the big luxury groups.
According to a separate report from Savills earlier this year, New Bond Street (the northern end of Bond Street) became a hot destination for luxury brands following Great Portland Estate‘s redevelopment at the far north end near Hanover Square.
In May, Savills said demand for space on New Bond Street is so high that rents are set to rise over the next two years, and they will soon be among the highest on all of Bond Street.
Saint Laurent has reportedly broken a record for rent on the street, and in the U.K., paying more than 13 million pounds annually for a multistory property, according to British press reports.
The new Saint Laurent store will sit on the corner of Grafton and New Bond Streets, slightly south of where its sister brand Gucci has recently opened.
Saint Laurent’s parent Kering has declined to confirm any details.