RAPAPORT... The Luxury Institute reported the top-rated luxury watch brands, based on its 2010 Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey. This survey found that high-net-worth U.S. consumers, or those with weighted average household incomes of $845,000 and average investable assets of $16.6 million, rated Blancpain the “Best of the Best” among 33 luxury watch brands. Vacheron Constantin took second place and Breguet was ranked third in the survey.

“The luxury watches category is one of the oldest and most prestigious,” said Milton Pedraza of the Luxury Institute. “And yet the industry is stuck in time in terms of its distribution and customer relationship-building innovations. We predict that more luxury watch brands will build their own direct distribution channels via retail and online as they realize that the future belongs to those watch brands that have direct and deep relationships with their end consumers.”

LH