The Couture show has always prided itself on delivering high-quality attendees, not necessarily the most, for its vendors. But with the addition of CoutureTime, a watch pavilion with 31 brands — like Omega, Baume & Mercier, Chopard, Bulgari, Tag Heuer, Tudor Watch, Montblanc, Zenith, Raymond Weil and the LVMH-owned Gucci, Dior and Fendi Timepieces — the show expects to draw more buyers to the event, set for June 2 to 6 at the Wynn and Encore resorts in Las Vegas.
While the patina of exclusivity around fine designer jewelry hasn’t dulled, the category always faces challenges in uncertain times, so Couture’s 300-plus fine jewelry exhibitors should see a boost from the active luxury timepiece market.
“This was a big initiative for us,” said Gannon Brousseau, vice president of Couture. “When you extend into timepieces, you are going to open up to stores otherwise not into the event…to come to the show with a specific focus on timepieces and hopefully they’ll open up to designer jewelry.”
CoutureTime’s opening-night event will feature a keynote speech by Jean-Claude Biver, president of LVMH’s Watch Division, chairman of Hublot and chief executive officer of Tag Heuer and Zenith. Held at the adjoining Encore hotel ballrooms, the show aims
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