NEW YORK — Marc Jacobs is giving its customers more ways to tell time.
After the launch of fine watches under its designer label last fall, the brand is set to unveil its first lower-priced timepiece collection today for the Marc by Marc Jacobs diffusion line.
“[The fine watches] are very subtle and understated and personal, and they are watches that you want to keep forever,” said Robert Duffy, president of Marc Jacobs. “Marc by Marc Jacobs watches are more fun and frivolous. You want to wear one now and maybe in a month you want another one.”
The Marc by Marc Jacobs watch collection, which will hit stores in August, comprises about 25 styles, 80 percent geared to women and 20 percent for men.
Women’s styles are created to merchandise with the fall Marc by Marc Jacobs ready-to-wear collection in colors such as royal blue, burgundy, purple and black.
Distinctive treatments appear throughout the collection. For example, one watch on a soft metallic leather strap features a petite rectangular case that sits at the middle of an oversize bow rendered in plastic. Another watch on a patent leather strap showcases a plastic octagonal case with a beveled crystal. The face of the watch substitutes numerals for the letters M-A-R-C, each set off-kilter at the quarter-hour. A third watch has a chunky chain-link bracelet strap with a brass finish upon which hangs a star-shape charm that houses a timepiece.
“The watches are whimsical, but there is also a practicality to the collection,” said Duffy, citing a spare digital watch set simply within a cuff-like patent leather strap. “It’s also a much broader collection, which gives us more opportunity to experiment with different styles and proportions.”
Marc Jacobs developed the collection under a license with Fossil Inc., Richardson, Tex., which produces its collection line, as well as watches for Michael Michael Kors, DKNY, Burberry and Emporio Armani, and owns the Zodiac and Michele watch brands.
“Our design team was very hands-on and specific in terms of what we wanted, and we used Fossil’s expertise in the category to help us develop the line,” Duffy said.
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Barbara Korn, vice president of luxury brands at Fossil, said the firm worked with Marc Jacobs to include premium detailing while maintaining the desired retail price range of $125 to $300.
“There are a lot of little details in the watches,” Korn said. “For example, with the indexes on the dials, the number is first etched and then enameled over it to create more three dimensionality. Many of the numerals match the Marc by Marc Jacobs logo font. These are very expensive dials. There are also straps in premium leathers and exotics like python and alligator.”
The new collection is being manufactured in Asia, featuring Japanese components, while the fine watches will continue to be made in Switzerland.
The collection will first roll out to Marc by Marc Jacobs boutiques and then to Barneys New York, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. It also will be distributed in Europe and the Middle East.
Duffy said rtw continues to lead sales for the Marc by Marc Jacobs line, but accessories, including footwear under license with Rossimoda, sunglasses licensed to Safilo Group and handbags, represent about 20 percent of the business, and is growing. Overall, Marc Jacobs products generate about $300 million in worldwide sales at retail, according to industry sources.
“We have a huge handbag business and sunglasses have been successful, and shoes have become a big player,” Duffy said. “I hope the watches will be that big.”
Korn said initial response to the collection has been strong. Fossil had a 19 percent sales increase in its luxury watch segment and generated net sales of more than $1 billion in 2005, an 8.4 percent increase compared with $960 million in 2004.
“Internally, there is so much excitement about the line,” Korn said. “We believe the line really captures the spirit of the Marc by Marc Jacobs brand and its whole youthful aesthetic.”
Duffy said although the creation of the fall advertising campaign hasn’t begun, the brand would likely advertise the new watch collection, perhaps following a product-shot format similar to that used for its collection timepiece launch.