Ryser Kentfield starts his own brand
A new brand from a watch store owner from California. I have seen many new companies launch recently including Scorpion Watch company from Colorado and Bathys from Hawaii. Unlike these companies Ryser has decided to try a higher end of the watch market. In my opinion this is a harder market to reach because there are less buyers that can afford these watches. On the other hand companies like Bathys has introduced watches right in the middle of the market under $1000, which is a market I personally think needs to be tapped. There are so many low end watch makers and so many high end watch makers. This leads me to believe that the middle market is the niche price point of the market that has room for growth.
Many retailers start a house brand, like Bucherer or Tourneau, which is sold only in company stores. Urs Ryser, the President and owner of Ryser Kentfield, decided to make his own watch and distribute it himself, as well as continue to run his store. Ryser, originally from Biel, worked at Rado for two years then emigrated to the USA. He started his store, Swiss Timepieces (in Kentfield, CA), in 1990. "I decided to start my own production here, as a hobby," he explains.
Ryser sells his watches through his store and different retailers. "I tried the JCK show in Vegas in 2005," he says. "I had a lot of traffic, but when you start out, it's very difficult because people want a known brand name." Ryser Kentfield watches range in price from "US$1100 - US$5200 (with diamonds) and Ryser is committed to working with high end retailers like himself. "I am trying to get good retailers anywhere in the world," he says. "I will launch new designs every other year or so, it all depends on how the line goes this year, with the watches I have now. It takes time and effort to get the news of the brand out there." Ryser makes and sells about 700 watches a year and this coming year he expects to make somewhere between 1000 - 2000 watches.
