Zurich — Luxury goods group Richemont has launched a new watch brand, Baume, offering trendy time pieces priced in the hundreds rather than the thousands of dollars to lure young people away from their smartphones for reading the time. Swiss watchmakers’ sales have improved recently, after a prolonged downturn, but they are still struggling to reach young people — who wear either no watch at all, or a connected Apple Watch, and want online services that luxury watchmakers have been slow to embrace. The new Baume brand will be sold exclusively online with prices starting at $560, a clear indication it is aimed at younger customers. It will also try to appeal to their "green" conscience by using no animal-based or precious materials, and only paper and cardboard for packaging. Richemont’s watch business consists of high-end brands, such as IWC or Jaeger-LeCoultre, which cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars and are still mostly sold in traditional brick-and-mortar stores...
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