Exclusive Watch Distributor Aims To Sell 30 Timepieces In A Year

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- DBF (M) Sdn Bhd, exclusive distributor of Swiss watch brand, 'DuBois et fils', aims to sell 30 exclusive timepieces a year, driven by potential corporate buyers. Its Director, Jamkhairouddin Johar Ariffin, said the target would start once the DBF signed up its product retailer, which was expected to be by year-end. "We target to have at least one to two retailers and we are looking to open the stores here, cities of Penang or Johor Baharu," he told reporters after launching the product here Tuesday. The DuBois et fils watches are priced between US$6,949 (RM28,000) and US$17,374 (RM70,000) apiece, with all of the collections limited to 33 or up to 99 pieces per collection. At the launch, Philippe DuBois & Fils SA Director, Thomas Steinemann, announced the offer of shareholding to Malaysia of up to 30 individuals. He said there would be two options. "For the first option, an individual can opt for 100 registered shares with total price of US$2,042 (RM8,235). "The second offer involves 300 registered shares with total price of US$6,131 (RM24,704)," he said. Steinemann said the shareholders will enjoy preferential pricing on the timepieces and other benefits. To-date, the company has 840 shareholders from 31 countries, he said. On the watch rental scheme, Steinemann said, the company planned to introduce its 'Rent Your Luxury Watch' programme in Malaysia between March and June 2017. "We will first study the market before introducing it here. "The programme will feature around six to ten timepieces for rent and allow more customers to have access to them. It is only available in Switzerland now," he said. Steinemann said since its introduction, the rental scheme was only offered to the company's shareholders. "In the first six months we kept it internally within the shareholders because we want to learn about the rental system. After that we are looking to launch it globally, including Malaysia," he said. --BERNAMA