Opulent stores filled with cashmere suits, silk scarves and soft leather handbags are making room for the hard stuff on Australia’s most prestigious shopping strips.
Watches costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, made from gold, titanium, diamonds and stainless steel are filling temples to timepieces opening across the country.
This week, the Franck Muller boutique on Sydney’s Castlereagh Street opens its heavy doors, opposite Chanel’s new fine jewellery and watches flagship in Sydney.
Japanese brand Grand Seiko officially opened in Melbourne’s historic Block Arcade last month, Vacheron Constantin reopened on Collins Street in March, and Rolex’s largest boutique in the Southern Hemisphere started trading in December at Chadstone Shopping Centre.
“Australia is increasingly appealing to international watch brands due to its stable retail infrastructure and its growing base of affluent and brand-savvy consumers,” says Nicholas Rudaz, Franck Muller’s chief executive. “Cities like Sydney and Melbourne have truly matured into key luxury hubs.
“The average spend of our customers in Australia is currently around $15,000.”
The brand’s $352,400 Gravity Skeleton Tourbillon, in a rose-gold case studded with diamonds, should help push the average customer spend higher.
Australian expansion is taking place as the international luxury watch market recalibrates. The Swatch Group, whose brands include Omega and Tissot, this week reported an 11.2 per cent drop in sales for the first half of the year. Piaget and IWC Schaffhausen’s parent company Richemont reported a 7 per cent decrease in sales for the first quarter ending June 2025.
“We don’t depend on banks, we are strong financially and that helps us to remain creative in these difficult times,” Rudaz says. “We are steadily working to elevate the average price point by introducing more high-complication and high-jewellery pieces, reinforcing the value of our watchmaking and gem-setting expertise.”
Swiss brand Franck Muller is considered an enfant terrible of the watch world, with the hour hands on their Crazy Hours watch snapping erratically across the polished face to tell the time. A collaboration with Japanese streetwear brand #FR2, it features rabbits in a position more compromising than a couple caught on a kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert.
The watches are aimed at big-spending locals rather than cashed-up tourists.
“Compared to more mature South-East Asian markets like Singapore or Thailand, where high tourist volumes tend to drive sales strongly alongside locals, Australia’s luxury watch market is more reliant on domestic clientele. We are focused on steadily building brand awareness and cultivating a loyal local customer base.”
That cultivation comes with sumptuous stores with splashes of gold and deep velvet, designed to make customers feel comfortable wearing their wages on their wrists.
The new Chanel boutique features a chandelier from Paris artisans Goossens. Grand Seiko’s flagship has a private bar serving Japanese whisky.
“We want people to leave feeling enchanté,” Rudaz says. “With something beautiful on their wrist.”
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