he tourist hotspot of Lucerne, which relied heavily on its ability to attract Chinese customers over the last decade, has had to reinvent itself since the outbreak of the pandemic. The same applies to local historic watch and jewellery retailer Gübelin, now run by the sixth generation of the founding family.

This summer, it unveiled an imposing new space covering more than 1,000 square metres of the entire ground floor of a building in the centre of Lucerne, on the lakefront. There’s one important nuance: the space is not being inaugurated under the name of Gübelin but of TimeVallée, a boutique concept launched by the Richemont group in 2014. The network has so far been operating mainly in the Chinese market, but has started to expand outside China as well, in South Korea, the Middle East, Europe in Barcelona and now also in Lucerne in collaboration with Gübelin.

The new TimeVallée boutique operated by Gübelin in Lucerne

Richemont but not only

With around thirty boutiques worldwide, TimeVallée naturally represents the brands of the Richemont group but also other watchmakers: in addition to A. Lange & Söhne, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin and the second-hand specialist Watchfinder & Co, all owned by the group, the new Lucerne boutique also features Bulgari, Chanel, Hublot, Oris, TAG Heuer and Titoni, among around twenty other brands. Each point of sale is 100% managed by a local partner, in this case Gübelin in Lucerne, which owns and operates the boutique. TimeVallée, for its part, provides the general concept, relations with the brands, training of sales staff via the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie and the entire customer and digital ecosystem.

“For several years now, we have been wondering about the occupation of this space,” says Raphael Gübelin. “The discussions with TimeVallée started in 2021 and the boutique opened in July of this year. So everything went very fast!” The new boutique reflects the typical TimeVallée design concept, halfway between a lounge and a luxury shopping mall with its shop-in-shops.

Raphael Gübelin, President of Gübelin, and Michael Guenoun, CEO of TimeVallée, at the opening of the boutique in summer 2022

Why this alliance? “It’s a win-win solution for both parties,” replies Raphael Gübelin. “We have known the local market for over 165 years. It allows us to add several brands to our portfolio and the general concept helps our international recognition. What is also very useful is the whole digital interaction experience of TimeVallée. With five boutiques in Switzerland, we don’t have the economies of scale to be able to invest in this type of ecosystem.”

Solid ambitions for TimeVallée

“With each opening, our mission is to find the right balance between the interests of the customer, the boutique, the partner and each brand represented,” emphasises Michael Guenoun, CEO of TimeVallée. “This multi-stakeholder discussion is a challenge but it is key to building a new destination in itself each time. We also try to adapt well to the specific local environment. Brand representation is part of a close dialogue with the partner. But the supply will then be operated directly by Gübelin.”

The network has solid ambitions: already well established in Asia, the network founded by Richemont is seeking, in addition to an ever-expanding presence in China, to expand in the Middle East and Europe, before setting its sights on the United States, where it does not yet have a boutique.

Facing the concentration of distribution

For Gübelin, which has had to restructure its network of points of sale in recent years, this strategy is a way of reacting to an ecosystem of watch distribution in the midst of concentration, whether through the boutiques operated by the brands themselves or the strengthening of “super retailers” active in several countries, or even several continents (our report on this subject here). This helps to explain why medium-sized players active in a single country (with the exception of a showroom in Hong Kong in the case of Gübelin) are looking for alliances to reinforce their critical size.

The historic Lucerne company can nevertheless count on the dynamism of the jewellery sector. In this area, it has notably worked on innovations in the traceability of coloured stones (see our article here), which set it apart on the international scene.

The profile of visitors to Lucerne has also changed as a result of the pandemic, notes Raphael Gübelin: “Previously, most tourists were only here for a few hours. Nowadays they tend to stay for several days. This allows for a much more qualitative exchange. And the advantage of the architecture of this boutique is that it draws people to the back, a bit like a mall. You don’t stay in the window. This is a very important point.”

If the Chinese are no longer present in numbers, they have been replaced in the city by American, Middle Eastern and Swiss visitors. As with the entire city of Lucerne, which has been its home since 1854, Gübelin has to reinvent itself in a changed landscape.