![]() “Coming from a watch retail background, I have seen so many people buy a watch from the shop, and a few months later realise that it’s not the watch for them. “It’s very hard for people just getting into the watch game,” Ulman admits. What Helvetia is essentially doing is creating a side-entrance by slashing the cost of entry to this rarefied environment and making watches more widely accessible. The gilded doors are kept shut to preserve that sense of elitism - admittance comes at a steep price. The luxury market operates on the principle of exclusivity to maintain its prestigious allure. Yet while there are a bunch of watch-rental businesses overseas, the idea still feels subversive. Sure, they might be an “investment”, but then so is property and many people rent because they’re not in the position to buy. Many timepieces, after all, are prohibitively expensive. What Ulman is really trying to do is democratise luxury watches by opening them up to a broader audience. Helvetia is just an extension to that - it’s an extra service.” “By all means, choose a watch that you really cherish. “I’m not telling you not to buy a watch,” he says. So he’s not on some mission to revolutionise the watch industry, he just wants to give it another dimension. If people stop buying watches, he’s out of a job. While Zaeger and Helvetia are separate entities, Ulman’s retail background is significant. “I really wanted to provide that experience to everyone. “One of the best things about my job is changing watches, I love it!” he explains. As a result, he gets to rotate his personal wristwear a lot. Ulman comes from a watch retail background - the 29-year-old is also the manager of Zaeger, a store selling new and pre-owned watches in Melbourne and Sydney. If you only want a loan for a one-off event – say a wedding – then rather than sign up for the rolling subscription you can just rent the watch for a single month. Once you’ve committed to a package, you get to borrow a watch for three months, after which there’s an option to buy the piece should you wish. A selection from Helvetia’s Gold Class collection Gold delivers a more lavish selection from Grand Seiko to Rolex while a Platinum Class is soon to be unveiled. Silver offers you a range that’s priced up to $7000 with pieces including an IWC Pilot, Bremont Supermarine and a clutch of Omegas and TAGs. The difference in price essentially reflects the type of watch you have access to. Helvetia works by offering two subscriptions - Silver Class ($99/month) and Gold Class ($299/month). #TIMEPIECE MONTHLY FULL#In fact, it might even have changed the way I think about watches full stop. That conversation began to change my mind. The idea seems faintly sacrilegious - isn’t a watch supposed to be for life? Don’t we justify splashing our cash, in part, as a future investment? What about the emotional bond you build with your watch?īut then I spoke to Shmuel Ulman, the founder of Helvetia, which bills itself as “Australia’s first luxury watch subscription service”. Yet I still couldn’t help feeling sceptical. News of the existence of Helvetia, an Australian service renting out high-end watches therefore shouldn’t come as a surprise. These include Vyrent in the US, Borrowed Time in the UK, Luxothèque in France and Acquired Time in Singapore and Hong Kong. ![]() ![]() Given this purported shake-up – that you’d expect to only be aggravated by the financial stress of COVID-19 – a clutch of luxury watch rental services have popped up around the world. “More consumers will see a growing proportion of their wardrobes made up of pre-owned or rented products, especially for high-value items and accessories,” it said.ĭescribing how the prices of top-end watches and jewellery have nearly doubled since 2005, the report suggested that some disruption to the traditional model was inevitable: “Even consumers with six-figure incomes are looking to discounts and alternative models of acquisition for relief.” Business Insider The chapter outlined one of the big trends predicted to change the way we shop. “Consumers have demonstrated an appetite to shift away from traditional ownership to newer ways in which to access product.” That was the intro of the “End of Ownership” chapter in “The State of Fashion 2019”, a detailed report by the Business of Fashion and global management consultants McKinsey. ![]() I/trending 37914 Rent a Rolex Submariner now for $299 a month – will luxury watch rentals ever take off? Luke Benedictus ![]()
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