Vacheron Constantin – the world’s oldest watch model in steady manufacturing – has unveiled Maison 1755, its new immersive experiential house, in Shanghai, with the purpose of sharing its 267-year historical past and the intricacies of haute horlogerie with Chinese language shoppers.
The Richemont-owned luxurious watchmaker took over a four-story mansion in Zhangyuan heritage precinct to create its largest immersive experiential house in China, which blends museum-worthy curation with the newest know-how and localized touchpoints.
The Swiss watch business in 2022 recorded all-time excessive exports, which grew 11.4% year-on-year. Buoyed by the prospects of a powerful restoration within the Chinese language luxurious market this 12 months, Vacheron Constantin is trying to forge deeper connections throughout generational demographics on the earth’s second-largest watch market.
Immersing Vacheron Constantin in native tradition
The high-profile Zhangyuan city renewal venture in central Shanghai was fastidiously chosen as the situation for Maison 1755. The realm was a cultural and leisure hub within the late 19th Century and its various shikumen alleys are re-emerging as a luxurious model epicenter, residence to the likes of Dior and Louis Vuitton, amongst others.
Maison 1755 occupies the tallest mansion situated on the entrance to the precinct. An enormous Maltese cross emblem and watchmaker’s loupe greet guests within the public courtyard. Scanning a QR code on the Discovery Loupe unlocks a digital actuality expertise that juxtaposes visions from the Maison’s inside with the real-time scene outside – notably enchanting at evening when Maison 1755 turns into the backdrop for a lightweight and sound present projected throughout the façade.
Maison 1755 is situated in Zhangyuan in central Shanghai. (Swipe left) Picture: Vacheron Constantin
By intertwining components of the model and Chinese language heritage, Vacheron Constantin hopes to spark emotional engagement with the China market. Vacheron Constantin’s dedication to preserving and selling tradition, heritage and artwork in progressive methods additionally aligns with the values of its audience within the guochao period.
A journey via Maison 1755
Zhangyuan’s architectural particulars are a neat match with Vacheron Constantin’s annual exhibition theme, The Anatomy of Magnificence. Meant to shine a lightweight on the layered and minute particulars that create magnificence, this may additionally demystify the advanced world of superb watchmaking making it extra accessible.
Guests to Maison 1755 transfer via a collection of multi-sensory experiences, designed to attach time, artwork and tradition, unfold throughout 4 flooring. The constructing’s authentic heritage options and traditional Chinese language aesthetics have been elegantly interwoven all through, firmly rooting the expertise in native tradition. These components prolong from design motifs that mix the model’s Maltese cross with the standard Chinese language knot, to a up to date artwork exhibition curated by artists from the Central Academy of Effective Arts, impressed by The Anatomy of Magnificence theme, and afterward to a visible feast introduced by one of many maison’s Considered one of Not Many skills, Cory Richards, famend photographer and explorer.
Maison 1755’s second ground “Excessive Watchmaking Space” and fourth ground “The Artwork Stage” (Swipe left) Picture: Vacheron Constantin
The model’s cultural partnerships are explored in themed rooms, equivalent to a mini-Louvre Museum showcasing uncommon Metiers d’Artwork timepieces, and a working re-creation of an Abbey Highway recording studio. Inventive collaborations, being held as a part of the Considered one of Not Many marketing campaign, with the Chinese language descent French high fashion designer Yiqing Yin and Chinese language ballet dancer Chun Wai Chan additional join with native audiences. In the meantime, the maison’s client-centric companies are highlighted through The Watchmaker Workshop, connoisseur occasion lounges, and a live-streaming studio that gives a digital VIP salon service.
Enriching expertise via immersive digital touchpoints
A lot of Maison 1755 is devoted to historical past. Nevertheless, the progressive spirit that has outlined the Swiss marque for hundreds of years continues to be evident via digital initiatives designed to attach with Gen Z and Gen Alpha shoppers, whom Bain & Firm forecasts will make up a 3rd of the worldwide luxurious market by 2030.
To enter Maison 1755, guests are required to e-book their time slot through a WeChat mini-program, via which they will additionally entry an audio tour information and hyperlink on to an internet gross sales platform ought to a specific timepiece take their fancy. Playful interactive experiences invite guests to make use of physique actions to create an on-screen artwork piece or have their private watch sketches animated in The Apprentice’s Lab. Creations may be downloaded via the maison’s WeChat mini-program and simply shared on social media.
This embrace of digitalization extends throughout Vacheron Constantin’s client expertise at a time when e-commerce luxurious gross sales have risen 150 % in China with on-line penetration virtually doubling to 23 % through the COVID-19 pandemic, in keeping with a joint report by Bain & Firm and Tmall Luxurious. Having launched one-on-one video appointments through livestream on its Tmall Luxurious Pavilion flagship retailer, the model turned the one luxurious watch model to create a 3D product viewing expertise via Tmall Luxurious Pavilion’s 3D Luxurious Items Museum in 2022. China limited-edition livestreaming collaborations with influencers equivalent to Austin Li have additionally helped increase e-commerce gross sales, notably within the rising girls’s watch market.
Vacheron Constantin’s unique livestream, digital innovation, and immersive procuring expertise have set the benchmark for the arduous luxurious sector. (Swipe left) Picture: Vacheron Constantin
Ranked second for “finest watch model with excessive problems” within the Hurun Better of the Finest Awards 2023, Vacheron Constantin is trying to enhance its standing in a aggressive market. By delivering participating buyer experiences that join with Chinese language shoppers via tradition, artwork and values, in addition to leveraging novel digital applied sciences, Vacheron Constantin hopes to capitalize on its preeminent historical past, consideration to element and client-centric companies to drive future development in China.
