The Dream

Aug 2, 2023

“It’s been a long time coming; I was there with my Scottish boss as soon as we heard that the project was called American Dream . We had to sign up,” said David Hurley, Watches of Switzerland ’s group deputy chief executive officer. The watch retailer officially signed its venture with American Dream back in 2018, with construction delays and the COVID-19 pandemic creating a few setbacks. The store had a soft opening in early July. In addition to the multibrand offering, the new location is anchored by a dedicated Rolex boutique on the left hand side and a dedicated Cartier boutique on the right, each with its own entryway and interconnecting rooms once inside allowing customers to browse all the timepiece offerings. The Cartier boutique remains under construction and is set to open on Aug. 28. Watches of Switzerland at American Dream. Andrew Werner “The reality is some customers obviously come to the stores and they know specifically what they have in mind, and others want to browse and see new things. We’ve seen brands starting to develop, such as Girard-Perregaux, which we have introduced there with a shop-in-shop, as well as Grand Seiko. We’ve also put our vintage timepiece business, Analog Shift, there with its first shop-in-shop and then we’re going to continue to be rotating other brands throughout the store. The days of just having that kind of a static door with the same brands there all the time is kind of over. So we like to have kind of pop-up spaces in our stores where we can introduce new brands or show different brands, the clientele that are coming in and that is ever-changing,” Hurley told WWD. At present, Rolex is one of Watches of Switzerland’s biggest partners worldwide, accounting for about 50 percent of the overall business, with Cartier also remaining a strong partner, having a 500-square-foot presence at the recently renovated Mayors jewelry store located in Miami’s Dadeland mall. “Rolex is our largest partner, and Cartier would be part of the next group. So certainly they have been one of the fastest-growing brands for us over the last two to three years, both in door sales and then we’ve been very fortunate because our business together has been so strong that we’re adding new locations. The ability to be able to add them in our newly relocated and renovated showroom for Mayors in Dadeland, which is one of our strong stores. We’ve added them into the American Dream and they’re going to be coming into our project in One Vanderbilt in New York as well. With great designs, a great management team, great advertising behind the brand, all of the work that they’re doing and kind of in the environment and sustainability as well, they’re a key partner for us,” added Hurley. Watches of Switzerland has no plans to slow down anytime soon. The British retailer has made significant investment in both its SoHo and Hudson Yards locations, with its next multibrand store opening in New York City at One Vanderbilt by the end of 2023. “We’re looking across the U.S. and we don’t have any Watches of Switzerland multibrand stores in California and that’s something we’d love to do. It’s just about finding the right opportunity,” said Hurley. Watches of Switzerland at American Dream – Rolex Boutique. The overall watch market has experienced a slowdown, but over the course of the last couple of years, the pace of growth in the U.S. has been unprecedented. With the secondary market seeing prices coming down, the overall hype around the category has dissipated a bit as well. “We still look at the U.S. market at an overall level that is under-penetrated. I think there’s more and more people that are interested in timepieces, everything from, you know, Rolex, Patek Philippe , Cartier and Omega . But we really believe in the U.S. market and we see it in all of the other luxury categories as well. The size and scale of the investments that groups like LVMH and Kering are making in the U.S. means that even though there’s a slowdown in the growth, it’s affecting their strategy. “And we’re pretty consistent in terms of what we want to do as well. And for our stores, we have renovation or expansion plans for all of our boutiques now going into 2026,” said Hurley. Watches of Switzerland at American Dream. Watches of Switzerland at American Dream. Watches of Switzerland at American Dream – Rolex Boutique. Tags