K. Basrie

K. Basrie
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Hoping for an end to a dark time

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.