Hoping for an end to a dark time

K. Basrie, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As a keen wristwatch collector, Sudwikatmono, a veteran businessman, has never been quite able to resist his temptation to keep adding new items to his massive collection.

"Actually, I already have some 100," the relative of former president Soeharto told The Jakarta Post while browsing at a fine watch expo here at Plaza Senayan recently.

The tycoon, always dressed lavishly, was referring to his personal collection of world-class wristwatches.

And Dwi, as he is also known, admitted that looking for luxurious watches is still one of his favorite hobbies.

Then there are collectors with an altogether different type of financial background.

A junior clerk at a major oil firm in the Sudirman business district of Jakarta, Ajeng (not her real name), 38, has some 50 watches in her collection. "I am a real fan of wristwatches," she said.

Unlike Dwi, her watches -- mostly gifts from her parents and relatives -- are those with prices of between Rp 1 million to Rp 2 million each.

So far, the fall of the rupiah and the economic slowdown that has accompanied it have done little to suppress Ajeng's obsession with watches.

"Collecting items that you love should not always be expensive," she said. "And I do enjoy matching the color and style of my watches with my dress.

"Having more watches, for me, is fun," said Ajeng, who is particularly enamored of Esprit and Guess wristwatches.

And Dwi reflected these simple words in explaining his own hobby collecting the time machines: "I just like it."

A reliable source in the industry said that Dwi, Soeharto and several former ministers, officials and generals, are known to hoard fine jewelry watches, like Audemars Piguet, Breguet, Piaget, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Chopard, and Baume & Mercier.

Several noted figures are also hungrily scouring for Russian watches, like the Paketa.

Meanwhile, the "second-class" collectors know precisely what they are looking for.

The difference, perhaps, could best be illustrated by imagining someone driving a Rolls Royce and another person in a more common Japanese car. Image and prestige, moreover, count.

Then for collectors from any class, the skyrocketing price since the mid-1997 crisis is no good excuse to stop looking.

"But we do have to be a little bit selective," said another fine wristwatch collector, who declined to be identified.

A major fine watch distributor, PT Timerindo Perkasa International, still enjoys the glory.

"Among our popular items that still sell well here are those with the price tags of between 6,000 Singaporean dollars (Rp 33 million) and S$7,000 (Rp 38.5 million) each," said Zainuddin, a senior staffer at Timerindo, which handles the distribution of 11 top name-brand wristwatches; they include Piaget, Cartier, Baume & Mercier, Tag Heuer, Gucci, Ebel, Vacheron Constantin, Christian Dior, Zenith, Officine Panerai and Corum.

According to Zainuddin, items available at Timerindo's stock could reach as high as S$70,000 per piece, like those of Piaget, and Vacheron Constantin.

"And there are still orders which ask for the purchase of certain model worth S$200,000 and $300,000 each," he added.

But most of the 25 distributors of imported wristwatches in Indonesia have confessed to the existence of an ongoing, and significant, drop in turnover.

They said the price tags have gone up three to four times higher than the pre-crisis list. People were unhappy with the situation, and have no choice to recover it but continue running their businesses.

"There is still a market for our products, of course, but the pie is no longer as big as before the crisis," Sutarsa Tanu, president of PT Mitraniaga Bumiandalas, a distributor of Swiss- made Tissot, cK, and Longines watches, said in a separate interview.

"I could say that the volume (of sales) now left is only about one-third from the previous one," he added.

Another player, Timotius J., the general manager of PT City Time which handles the distribution for Emporio Armani, DKNY, and Fossil, shared the same view.

"Our sales has been drastically dropped, particularly due to rupiah," he explained.

"Before crisis, we could sell between 500 and 1,000 units per three months -- now, the total has dropped three times," Timotius added.

According to Timotius, the market could no longer reach the skyrocketing price of imported watches. "As distributor, we have tried to press our margin (to tease the market), but it still doesn't work a lot," he said.

City Time has even closed half its eight outlets.

"We hope that we've just passed the dark episode and now begins a new one," Timotius said, adding that his company will soon open new shops at Plaza Senayan and Pondok Indah malls.

And City Time is not alone in its vision of a brighter future in the business. Visitors at Plaza Senayan could easily recognize that a showroom for the luxurious Audemars Piguet wristwatches will be opened soon at the Jakarta's most popular shopping mall.

"We'll open at the end of January," said one of the owners, adding that the price will start from tens of millions to hundreds of millions.

But some of the Audemars Piguet watches, including the Equation de Temps model -- one of its latest products and dubbed as one of the world's most expensive watches -- will be put only for display.

"Purchase for certain items will be handled based on request," the said the owner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Another positive sign is the emergence of a plethora of new models in the market. Officine Panerai, for example, has just introduced its new editions: Luminor Marina Automatic 44mm and Luminor Submersible.

"Their prices are between Rp 20 million and Rp 50 million each," Timerindo's PR manager Roslina Situmeang said.

So do the other popular brands, like cK, Swatch, Longines, Guess, Emporio Armani, and Esprit, most of which come with fine designs, decorative materials, sophisticated looks and a chic sense of fashion.

According to Timotius, the most popular items in today's Indonesian market are those with a price range of below Rp 1.5 million.

"They dominate some 40 percent of the market," he said.

"Those with the price range from Rp 1.5 million to some Rp 3 million," he continued, "control 30 percent of the pie, while the other 20 percent is owned by brands with price tags of between Rp 3 million and Rp 8 million."

The fine wristwatches, with prices starting from 8 billion to unlimited value, only control the remaining 10 percent of market share, he said.

More than half of the entire watch distribution in the country takes place in Jakarta, while 35 percent are distributed in other major cities in Java, Timotius said.

It has often been said that many people wear wristwatches as a compliment to their shoes and belts, an explanation as to why this market is booming.

Today, one can even buy a decent watch that keeps perfect time for less than Rp 100,000.

And that is why manufacturers are starting to turn watches into high-tech fashion accessories that can do everything from making phone calls to scanning the Internet to changing channels on your television set -- all add-ons to fetch more money.