More and more luxury brands are sounding out the growth opportunities in the metaverse. Swiss luxury watchmaker Chronoswiss is also taking a foray into the virtual parallel world.
Lucerne-based Chronoswiss is now settling into the virtual world: as the first luxury manufacturer of mechanical timepieces, the company, founded in 1983, will henceforth be present in the metaverse with its own atelier.
From the City of Lights to Decentraland
In order to offer a "unique digital customer experience and create a space for the modern and innovative spirit of the brand", the Chronoswiss Atelier, usually located in the heart of Lucerne, has been completely recreated in Decentraland. From now on, the watchmaking team will also be represented in this metaverse with an exclusive timepiece, such as a Media release from Thursday.
"We see the Metaverse as the next evolutionary stage of the internet, where business and gaming merge into a unique customer experience," Chronoswiss owner and CEO Oliver Ebstein explains the move. The watch house is aware that it is a bet on a still unclear vision.
"But it is more than exciting and every promising vision needs people who believe in it. The virtual studio is a laboratory for extraordinary ideas in a world that really knows no boundaries," says Ebstein.
On new paths
Chronoswiss, meanwhile, is not a first-time pioneer on the blockchain. In 2018, the Swiss watchmaker was the first in the industry to accept a variety of cryptocurrencies and released a limited edition of blockchain watches, it says.
In the virtual studio in Decentraland, users can buy a total of 100 limited edition Open Gear ReSec Sugar Rush digital wearables for their avatar. Likewise, eight real watches are for sale in limited editions. These eight watches will be made exclusively in the city of lights for customers of the virtual studio, it says. Buyers of both models will receive a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) of the Open Gear ReSec Sugar Rush to go with their watch.
Luxury watch suppliers discover NFT
NFT's market potential seems to be attracting increasing interest in the Swiss watch industry. Franck Muller, the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer from Geneva, for example, is also betting on Web3. In July, the manufacture announced the launch of a collection of electronic wearables and physical watches at the NFT marketplace of the world's largest crypto exchange Binance announced.
The watch shop Beyer Chronometrie on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse, which is particularly popular with bankers, also broke new virtual ground last June by launching an NFT watch collection. The first 100 NFT watches were sold out after only seven minutes.
Source: finews
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