To launch the day, and before moderating the first panel, Professor Thomaï Serdari, PhD, Professor of Marketing and Director of the Luxury & Retail MBA at NYU Stern, took the time to confront the possible pain points of the luxury watch industry in a modern age with a rapidly evolving luxury watch consumer. Serdari identified what she believes to be three key bottlenecks for consumers to familiarize and engage with luxury watch brands.

An industry built upon convention and tradition, Serdari’s analysis reveals it may be time for the industry to redefine the rules of engagement or risk falling behind the rapidly evolving and advancing fanbase for its products.

The panel featured Jean-Emmanuel Biondi, Head of Fashion & Luxury at Deloitte Consulting US; Wei Koh, CEO and Founder of Revolution and The Rake magazines; Tracey Llewellyn, Global Editorial Director of Revolution Magazine, and Patrick Pruniaux, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Sowind Group.

Biondi, armed with the data of the latest Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study released earlier this month, revealed that, ”58% of the customers are saying they can't pay more than US$1,500, US$2,000 to buy a watch.”

This key point tied in heavily to the second panel, “Today’s Evolving Luxury Consumer,” presented by Kathy Lee, Deputy Editor of WWD. The discussion further affirmed Serdari’s analysis, honing in on the observed perspective of the modern luxury consumer. The panelists (Austen Chu, Founder & CEO of Wristcheck; Malaika Crawford, Editorial Director of Hodinkee Magazine; Johannes Huebl, personality and watch collector; and Todd Snyder, fashion designer) were all in agreement that rising “delusional prices” and scarcity of in-demand big-name models have driven a new era of watch buyers to seek out more approachable offerings that meet the benchmarks of what such evolved consumers are now seeking.

In the third panel, “The Rise of the Secondary Market,” moderated by Cameron Barr, CEO of Craft + Tailored, panelists Paul Boutros, Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches, Americas – Phillips Auctioneers; Georgia Benjamin, collector and content creator; and James Lamdin, Founder of Analog:Shift and Vice President of Vintage & Pre-Owned Timepieces at the Watches of Switzerland Group, discussed how the pre-owned sector has become an incredible avenue to satiate the hunger learn about more historical watches and purchase pieces with rich heritage and designs.

Such a lack of clarity or consistency, paired with an exponential increase in luxury watch interest and market participation, has led to many myths and misconceptions being established in the landscape.

This hunger for a firmer foundation on the information conveyed by brands in the primary market, vendors in the secondary market, or by content creators in watch press and media was addressed in the final panel of the day: “Myths and Misconceptions in Watchmaking,” moderated by Tim Jeffreys, Deputy Editor of Editorial at Hodinkee. The panel featured Ines Hatzmannsberger, International Communication, Nomos Glashütte; James Kong, Founder of Fleming and Waitlisted; and TanTan Wang, Editor at Hodinkee.

The Summit was preceded by “Watches and Culture: A Talk With New York”. Held on October 16 at the Swiss Institute, the event featured a panel discussion gathering creative voices of the new generation sharing their passion for watchmaking.