ItThis is a crucial question in the watch industry. HowHow can you get young people to wear analogue watches?
TheExports of low-cost analog watches have seen a boom due to the rise of connected devices. In SwitzerlandExports of watches valued below 500 USD are not allowed SwissAccording to the, the francs (or $538) fell by 7.5 million units per year between 2015-2019, a third of the total. FederationYou can find the Swiss Watch Industry.
OneThe mission was taken on by an entrepreneur. In August, Cara BarrettIntroduced Parchie PalThese playful watches are aimed at children, and are priced at $50. Flik Flak, Timex Ice Watch. LikeThe Swatch Group’s Flik Flak, the new brand’s website says it wants to educate children about telling the time, keeping it — and understanding it.
“People are obsessed with watches and collecting, and a lot of their stories started with their first watch at a young age, 5 to 10,” Ms. BarrettShe spoke in a telephone interview from her home office in New York. “But what’s out there for kids today is really limited. So I thought, let’s come up with something new.”
Ms. Barrett35 is a well-known number in the watch industry. UntilShe was an editor at the online watch portal, Watch.com, earlier in the year. HodinkeeShe was there since 2015. “When I joined, I was the fourth employee,” she said. “It was a hands-on MBA.” HodinkeeOnce a blog, e-commerce site now employs nearly 200 people and sells high-end watches from brands including Vacheron ConstantinTAG Heuer Hermès.
Parchie Pal’s initial offering was one watch in three zingy, high-contrast colorways, including hot pink and orange. TheMade in Hong KongThis case features a 32-millimeter aluminum case, an oversized crown and a nylon strap. Japanese quartz movement.
Ms. Barrett described the models as “little mini dive watches in fun colors” and said she had no plans to create a connected watch. “I don’t want Parchie to be a screen watch,” she said. “We’re all on screens enough as it is.”
TheName is very personal for her. “Parchie was the name of my imaginary friend growing up,” she said. “I want kids to bond over shared appreciations and parents to bond with their kids. That’s the genesis of Parchie.”
Ms. BarrettShe stated that she has funded the business herself and isn’t looking for investment. SheAlthough she declined to disclose numbers, she said that she sold half her inventory within the first six weeks. Now, two models are out of stock (although she is still taking order). Saleshave been through her website and WhatsApp. However, she stated that she has been in discussions with retailers, including Hodinkee.
WhenIt was design. Ms. BarrettShe said she used her industry knowledge. “When you look at the big brands, the most successful are the ones with the simplest designs,” she said. “I wanted to implant longevity into Parchie, to make it timeless.”
SheShe said that she designed the watch and the whimsical. Parchie Pal character — a watch gear that has sprouted arms and legs, with a big U-shaped smile — and worked with a New YorkDesign agency on branding and the typeface on the dial. “I wanted them to be wearable for everybody,” she said. “So I incorporated colors that are not traditionally for boys or girls and kept things as unisex as possible.”
Ms. Barrett said she believes children’s watches made in partnership with toy brands and movies do not stand the test of time. Oliver Müller of the SwissLuxeConsult, a luxury watch industry consultancy, appeared to be in agreement. “There are many gimmicky kids’ watches and most of the time these are just accessories of a toy brand,” he said in an email. “ParchieThe child is taught to use the instrument of measurement by the parent. That’s the right approach, but compared with Flik Flak, the learning element is very thin.”
Flik FlakEstablished in 1987 by, each watch comes with a time-telling device and an app that offers lessons, tips, and games on the subject.
OthersThis was to appeal to young watch-wearers.
“We have a responsibility as a community to educate children on what time is, and what watches are,” said James MarksInternational head of the London boutique Phillips PerpetualThe vintage was sold for 200 SwatchWatches at a selling show in LondonTwo years ago, we achieved sales of more that 29,000 pounds. Now, the equivalent of $39475. “SwatchIt was so clever. It pulled children in with the design, and taught them time.”
William RohrThe former managing director TimezoneOnline watch forum and founder MassenaLAB, a high-end watch company, said in an e-mail that Parchie Pal “adapts the primordial watchmaking rule that form should follow function in children’s watches.” More than that, he said, “Parchie watches are everything a child needs in a wristwatch; a solid tool that is comfortable to wear and easy to understand.”
But Mr. Marks isn’t convinced Parchie PalThe same effect will be experienced as SwatchOr Flik Flak. “Swatch transcended the young,” he said. “ItIt was a design exercise that captured people’s imaginations from different generations. A simple children’s watch is never going to be in the same league.”
Ms. BarrettAccording to her, 85 per cent of her sales are to customers in the United StatesWith Britain, Canada AustraliaThe rest make up the majority of the rest.
“People really bond over watches,” she said. “I realized there was no reason it couldn’t be the same for kids. I would love it. Parchie to be a household name globally, but I’m well aware that takes time.”
Source: NY Times
