The HH Journal produced a trend report analyzing which topics within the luxury watch industry were trending online between May 16-30, 2016. They found that the release of the Richard Mille RM 35-02 watch in collaboration with tennis star Rafael Nadal generated the most online conversations during this period, accounting for 1.74% of discussions. The long-standing partnership between Richard Mille and Nadal in creating innovative, lightweight watches has been key in driving interest for this collection. Other trending stories included partnerships between watch brands and motorsports or other celebrity athletes, showing the importance of such sponsorships for online engagement.

1. THE
SOCIAL BUZZ
OF RICHARD
MILLE

2. A Two Week Snapshot
of What’s Trending
in the Luxury Watch Industry
16 May – 30 May 2016

3. OUR
MISSION

4. The mechanical watch
is a wonderful instrument
and the guardian of craftsmanship
and creativity.
Our objective as the Fondation de la Haute
Horlogerie is to take this wealth of expertise
into the world through our four missions
to inform, train, recognise and organise.
Since 2005, we have promoted values
of excellence and tradition within
an organisation that has the support
of numerous brands.

5. In this series of trend reports
we aim to discover which stories,
pieces of news and industry developments
in the world of haute horology gain
the most amount of traction in the digital
sphere - uncovering why these trends
are important to the industry.
Every two weeks we’ll be diving into
the world of digital conversations to discover,
what’s trending.

6. SNAPSHOT
OF THE PERIOD

7. TRENDING TOPICS AND STORIES
BETWEEN MAY 16 TO MAY 30
Percentage of conversations on luxury watches penetrated by the topic
1.74%
1.21%
1.11%
1.11%
0.82%
Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille release
the RM 35-02 in time for Roland Garros
Chopard celebrate Monaco GP with their
Grand Prix De Monaco Historique Race
Edition
TAG Heuer cement their association with
motorsports, announcing partnership
with Red Bull Racing
Zenith partner with Cohiba cigars for the
launch of the El Primero Chronomaster
1969 Cohiba Edition
Hublot showcase their new Classic Fu-
sion Kobe Bryant ‘HeroVillain’ model

8. VOLUME OF CONVERSATIONS
ON HIGH-END WATCHES
0
50
100
150
200
250
M
ay-16
M
ay-18
M
ay-20
M
ay-22
M
ay-24
M
ay-26
M
ay-28
M
ay-30
This period Average views per day in 2016

9. What’s been published on the HH Journal:
Richard Mille – Rafael Nadal’s New Automatic Watch
Detailing the relationship between Richard Mille
and Rafael Nadal
Under the hammer in May
A classic Zenith Chronomaster El Primero
is auctioned at Antiquorum

10. ANALYSING
THE SOCIAL BUZZ
OF RICHARD MILLE

11. Richard Mille and Rafael Nadal have both
established themselves as icons in their own
practise, and with an 8-year old partnership
they have also become renowned for producing
cutting-edge timepieces that are functional for
playing Tennis. As well as being known for their
innovation, the Richard Mille ‘Nadal’ range is
famous for being ultra-light and shock resistant.

12. The release of the new RM 35-02 model also
sees Richard Mille incorporating their patented
variable geometry rotor into the range – allowing
the wearer to define the winding capacity and
speed according to their lifestyle.
As well as the obvious popularity for both
these names, the continued advancement of
the ‘Nadal’ range has been fundamental in
maintaining a significant volume of excitement
for this particular range.

14. “Over the years, the tennis player
and the watchmaker have worked
hand in hand to create innovative
wristwatches, notably in terms of
their lightweight designs and shock
resistance — two essential qualities
for surviving Rafael Nadal’s
forehand”
Pursuitist

15. Among Influencers
1.74%
Penetration of conversations
by the Richard Mille RM
35-02 in Swiss watch related
conversations
174.07%
Increase of Richard Mille
mentions against the
previous two weeks
48.65%
Penetration of conversations
by Rafael Nadal in Richard
Mille related conversations

16. Beyond Influencers
530
All online references to
Richard Mille in relation to
Rafael Nadal
8.63%
Of mentions of Richard Mille
are in relation to
Rafael Nadal

18. SUMMARY

19. In a relatively small window of time we’ve
witness stories connecting the world of luxury
watches to Tennis, Formula 1 and Basketball
trend online - obviously this is significantly
benefitted by the Monaco Grand Prix and Roland
Garros all happening within this period.
As trending topics during this period show, the
longstanding relationship between the Swiss
watch industry and Formula 1 is as relevant and
crucial as ever, and notable races such as the
Monaco Grand Prix have become key calendar
dates in the world of watches.

20. However haute horology is becoming
increasingly engrained into the world of tennis,
with established players such as Caroline
Wozniacki, Rodger Federer, Novak Djokovic and
Kim Clijsters being an ambassador for leading
luxury watch brands.
The extent to which the budding relationship
between horology and tennis is significant can
be seen with the story of the Richard Mille RM
35-02 generating 111.76% more conversations
than the Hublot Classic Fusion Kobe Bryant
‘HeroVillian’

21. Founded by Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie,
the HH Journal is an online publication covering
watchmaking news in all its forms.
In collaboration with London-based agency RE-UP,
The HH Journal is producing a series of trend
reports to analyse which current topics within the
high-end watch industry are trending online.
Two key social tools are used to gather the data to
analyse the current trends: An in-house database
of 2,000+ influencers and online sources
specialising in luxury and watches – with the
ability to gather insight into 6 months’ worth of
conversations. A social listening tool, allowing to
measure and examines all online conversations.

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