Lotte Duty Free Sees Jewelry Sparkle As Quarterly Sales Grow By 25%

Jessica Chastain features prominently at the entrance of Damiani’s new store in Lotte Duty Free’s flagship downtown store in Seoul.

Lotte Duty Free

Jewelry and watches have become a focal point for the biggest duty-free retailer in the troubled downtown duty-free market of South Korea, Lotte Duty Free, following sales in the category rising by 25% year-over-year in the most recent quarter.

Major high-end houses such as Italy’s Damiani—still an independent family business—and Swatch-owned prestigious Swiss watchmaker Breguet, have invested in their presences with Lotte to make the most of the uptick. Damiani significantly expanded its space in Lotte’s Myeongdong flagship store in central Seoul, the capital, and has opened a new shop in Busan in southeastern South Korea. Meanwhile, Breguet has inaugurated a new store, also in Lotte’s Myeongdong unit.

Lotte Duty Free’s CEO, Kim Dong-ha, is actively strengthening the watches and jewelry category as both domestic and international customer demand for luxury watches and jewelry has boomed. To sustain this growth, Lotte Duty Free is recruiting premium brands and also improving its store environment, which is already quite luxurious in nature.

Lim Hyung-il, head of the merchandising division at Lotte Duty Free, commented: “With customer interest in premium watches and jewelry steadily increasing, we will continue to strengthen the category’s competitiveness by providing a differentiated brand portfolio and an optimal shopping environment.”

The Damiani unit in the Myeongdong store reopened on August 21. This followed a move to a new location on a different floor of the store, enabling the brand to nearly double its footprint and give shoppers a better experience. The renovation shows off some of its signature designs, combining artisan craftsmanship with the finest gemstones. Among the collections are Belle Époque, Margherita, and Mimosa.

Meanwhile, the brand opened a store in Lotte Duty Free’s Busan branch in July, giving customers in the city of eight million people—similar to that of New York—better access to the top-notch jewelry maison. For reference, Seoul’s population is 9.6 million.

Breguet arrives in Myeongdong

Early this month, Breguet—which took part in the Korean edition of the Frieze art fair last year—opened its boutique in Lotte’s Myeongdong store. The Swiss watchmaker, known for inventing the tourbillon movement that was patented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801, holds over 200 patents in all, and has set new standards in watchmaking. Almost a year ago, the brand hired a new CEO, from within the Swatch Group, Gregory Kissling.

The new boutique showcases popular models such as the ‘Reine de Naples 8918, Classic Moonphase 7787, Tradition 7057, and Marine 5517 Titanium.

As well as these high-profile names creating a buzz among luxury shoppers, some of Lotte Duty Free’s other high-end jewelry brands are also seeing very strong growth. For example, according to the retailer, Chaumet, Fred, Messika, and Pomellato have recorded an average 30% increase in sales over the past three months compared to the same period in the previous year.

The demand is believed to be due to jewelry and watches being seen as collectible assets and meaningful gifts, especially among younger consumers influenced by K-pop and luxury influencers online.

Lotte Duty Free’s unusually high growth across the category was also driven by a watches and jewelry promotion launched in May, which had a positive impact on sales. The retailer says it is planning to further enhance its position against competitors by expanding its premium brand line-up in the watches and jewelry category and by further elevating its store environment.