The luxury store where customers spend $15,000 a visit
Watches costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, made from gold, titanium, diamonds and stainless steel are filling temples to timepieces opening across the country.
This week, the Franck Muller boutique on Sydney's Castlereagh Street opens its heavy doors, opposite Chanel's new fine jewellery and watches flagship in Sydney.
Japanese brand Grand Seiko officially opened in Melbourne's historic Block Arcade last month, Vacheron Constantin reopened on Collins Street in March, and Rolex's largest boutique in the Southern Hemisphere started trading in December at Chadstone Shopping Centre.
'Australia is increasingly appealing to international watch brands due to its stable retail infrastructure and its growing base of affluent and brand-savvy consumers,' says Nicholas Rudaz, Franck Muller's chief executive. 'Cities like Sydney and Melbourne have truly matured into key luxury hubs.
Loading
'The average spend of our customers in Australia is currently around $15,000.'
The brand's $352,400 Gravity Skeleton Tourbillon, in a rose-gold case studded with diamonds, should help push the average customer spend higher.
Australian expansion is taking place as the international luxury watch market recalibrates. The Swatch Group, whose brands include Omega and Tissot, this week reported an 11.2 per cent drop in sales for the first half of the year. Piaget and IWC Schaffhausen's parent company Richemont reported a 7 per cent decrease in sales for the first quarter ending June 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
12 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Rare earths miners see opportunity in US trade war
Trade tensions between the US and China are playing into the hands of Australian rare earths miners. The weapons and electronics ingredients with hard-to-pronounce names such as praseodymium and neodymium have become the centre of a geopolitical tussle between the two largest world powers. For aspiring vertically-integrated rare earths producer Australian Strategic Minerals, that presents an attractive opportunity. The ASX-listed firm is busy working on getting its construction-ready Dubbo mine online, but has already been inundated with orders for its South Korea processing plant. It all kicked off when China retaliated to US tariffs by cutting off its near-total supply of rare earth minerals. That sent a wake-up call to American policymakers who realised they needed to take control of their supply chains, ASM chief executive Rowena Smith said on Monday. "The Korean metals plant, particularly in recent months since those restrictions that we saw imposed by China, has had a huge influx of inquiry. So we're busy ramping up our facility there," she told the Diggers and Dealers mining forum in Kalgoorlie. The plant, located 115kms south of Seoul, is one of a few facilities outside of China capable of refining rare earths into the high-tech metals and alloys that are then turned into magnets essential for making electronic devices. In July, the US Department of Defence invested $US400 million in rare earths miner MP Materials, including a generous guaranteed price floor of $US110 per kilogram for neodymium and praseodymium. The decision put a rocket under rare earth prices and put the market on notice that the US government was looking to do business. "At the moment, we've been talking to the DoD about funding support" for a US-based facility, Ms Smith said. "What we're seeing in the US is that the policy is extremely supportive of putting this facility into that jurisdiction. "And we are seeing that, not just at the Trump administration - the federal - but actually at the state level, very strong competition to having this facility put into their own jurisdiction." Another Australian company that has benefited from the Americans' determination to achieve supply chain independence is Lynas, the biggest producer of rare earths outside of China. The Perth-based company has been awarded funds by the DoD to construct a processing facility in Texas, which will add to its current facilities in Malaysia and Kalgoorlie. More details about the project are likely to be revealed on Tuesday morning, when Lynas general manager development Alex Logan takes to the Diggers and Dealers stage.
West Australian
12 minutes ago
- West Australian
Rare earths miners see opportunity in US trade war
Trade tensions between the US and China are playing into the hands of Australian rare earths miners. The weapons and electronics ingredients with hard-to-pronounce names such as praseodymium and neodymium have become the centre of a geopolitical tussle between the two largest world powers. For aspiring vertically-integrated rare earths producer Australian Strategic Minerals, that presents an attractive opportunity. The ASX-listed firm is busy working on getting its construction-ready Dubbo mine online, but has already been inundated with orders for its South Korea processing plant. It all kicked off when China retaliated to US tariffs by cutting off its near-total supply of rare earth minerals. That sent a wake-up call to American policymakers who realised they needed to take control of their supply chains, ASM chief executive Rowena Smith said on Monday. "The Korean metals plant, particularly in recent months since those restrictions that we saw imposed by China, has had a huge influx of inquiry. So we're busy ramping up our facility there," she told the Diggers and Dealers mining forum in Kalgoorlie. The plant, located 115kms south of Seoul, is one of a few facilities outside of China capable of refining rare earths into the high-tech metals and alloys that are then turned into magnets essential for making electronic devices. In July, the US Department of Defence invested $US400 million in rare earths miner MP Materials, including a generous guaranteed price floor of $US110 per kilogram for neodymium and praseodymium. The decision put a rocket under rare earth prices and put the market on notice that the US government was looking to do business. "At the moment, we've been talking to the DoD about funding support" for a US-based facility, Ms Smith said. "What we're seeing in the US is that the policy is extremely supportive of putting this facility into that jurisdiction. "And we are seeing that, not just at the Trump administration - the federal - but actually at the state level, very strong competition to having this facility put into their own jurisdiction." Another Australian company that has benefited from the Americans' determination to achieve supply chain independence is Lynas, the biggest producer of rare earths outside of China. The Perth-based company has been awarded funds by the DoD to construct a processing facility in Texas, which will add to its current facilities in Malaysia and Kalgoorlie. More details about the project are likely to be revealed on Tuesday morning, when Lynas general manager development Alex Logan takes to the Diggers and Dealers stage.
Man of Many
5 hours ago
- Man of Many
The Inaugural Morris Single Barrel Whisky: A Historic Moment for Australian Malts
By Rob Edwards - Sponsored Published: 4 Aug 2025 Share Copy Link 0 Readtime: 4 min Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here. It's not unusual for makers of whisky and wine to allude to a certain level of heritage and history when it comes to the drams and drops they produce. However, few come even remotely close to the extraordinary provenance of MORRIS, which has an astounding 166 years of unmatched family craftsmanship emanating from the northeastern Victorian town of Rutherglen. In fact, it would be fair to say that every bottle MORRIS has ever produced is a small piece of Australian history. Established in 1859, MORRIS started as a vineyard producing some of Australia's finest wines before expanding its offering to include remarkably premium whiskies. Many of these have drawn much of their unique flavour from a finishing process that uses the very barrels that once held their sibling wines. In this way, producing both wines and whisky has enabled MORRIS to offer a sense of terroir that others can only dream of. Rutherglen Morris Durif Single Barrel | Image: Morris of Rutherglen Now, MORRIS is celebrating the rich legacy that has led to it becoming Australia's most-awarded wine and whisky brand via the release of its inaugural Single Barrel. The MORRIS Family Durif Single Barrel is a newly revealed Australian Single Malt Whisky – a category within which MORRIS has long been considered exceptional. This incredible new release demonstrates how MORRIS simply never stops honing the approach that has seen it become so widely renowned. At the same time, it pays tribute to Australian whisky craftsmanship and captures the structure and complexity of the Durif grape alongside the rich Rutherglen soils surrounding the distillery. Let's take a closer look at this hand-bottled marvel, limited to just 258 bottles. Rutherglen Morris Durif Single Barrel | Image: Morris of Rutherglen Rutherglen Morris Durif Single Barrel (58.5%) Sometimes, we all deserve to indulge in a touch of decadence, and we can think of no better way to do so than via the MORRIS Durif Single Barrel, a burnished gold liquid containing rich, malted layers that are sure to delight. Proceedings commence with a superb nose of malted biscuits and dark chocolate crème, followed by a palate of creamy chocolate fondant and dark cocoa. Each sip concludes decadently courtesy of a layered finish of chocolate orange, vanilla, and dried fruits. It's nothing short of a triumph worthy of MORRIS' 166-year legacy. Plus, deep and complex flavours from the iconic MORRIS Durif barrel enhance rather than overpower the spirit. This difficult-to-achieve harmony stands as a testament to both meticulous barrel preparation and exceptional craftsmanship. Rutherglen Morris Durif Single Barrel | Image: Morris of Rutherglen Where Luxury and History Meet As we've already mentioned, this extraordinary expression is hand-bottled, enveloped in premium labelling containing details about its origin, including the barrel number, bottle number, and the signature of the MORRIS Head Distiller. Further, each bottle comes packaged in a luxury gift box, making for the perfect present for someone special (or a welcome addition to your own whisky collection). Even in light of the 166 years of expertise and passion that go into every bottle produced, Australia's finest whisky and wine makers have somehow outdone themselves with this MORRIS Family Durif Single Barrel. It makes us pause and wonder about what other liquid miracles they might materialise over the coming months and years. Given the limited nature of this release, we encourage whisky collectors and enthusiasts to express their interest early – we'd hate for you to miss out. Here's to a further 166 years of tantalising drams and drops!
