Cell Phones & iPods Are Replacing Fine Watches -- JCOC Releases Results from Special Watch Study.

PASO ROBLES, Calif. -- The Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC) recently examined the buying habits of and expectations toward watches of 7,182 JCOC consumer panelists, focusing on 18-24 year-olds, and found that because of escalating technology and the emergence of new and competing devices which tell time, 18-24 year olds are less likely to own a watch as their primary way to tell time. Of the 16 percent of the 18-24 year-olds who do not own a watch, 78 percent tell time with digital devices and 42 percent cite the ownership of cell phones or iPods as negating the need for a watch. In fact, of the JCOC panelists who do not own a watch, only one-third of the 18-24 years-olds and less than half of the general group believe they will wear a watch in the future.

For those who do own a watch, buying a watch as an investment or to add to a collection are issues especially prevalent among the general JCOC participating panelists, who are largely comprised of 24-59 year-olds. On the other hand, 18-24 year-olds are twice as likely to buy a watch as a fashion accessory, although a higher percentage of the general group sees the watch as being more important as an accessory than the 18-24 year-olds.

Viewing a watch as a professional necessity ranked highly with both the 18-24 year-olds and the general group, with 71 percent of the 18-24 year-olds and 70 percent of the general group believing that wearing a watch is more professional than using a cell phone or iPod to tell time. When asked which watch brands they owned, the 18-24 year-olds and the general group both preferred the same two brands as their top choices, but their tastes then diverged into different brands, although along the same price categories.

"Instilling within the 18-24 year-olds an appreciation for fine watches is imperative to averting a crisis in the future fine watch market," explains Elizabeth Chatelain, president of MVI Marketing. "Appealing to the youth market's affinity with digital devices or the older generation's lure of investment can be incorporated through clever advertising."

JCOC, a division of MVI Marketing, provides its clients and others within the jewelry, finance, fashion and retailing industries with fast, effective, and powerful market intelligence about jewelry products and the end-use consumer. The JCOC is a U.S. and Canadian e-panel of consumers who represent all ages, genders, income levels, buying categories and geographic regions.

To learn which watch types, styles and brands are most popular, buying expectations, and more details about this study and others, visit www.jcoc.info, or contact Elizabeth Chatelain at [phone] x104; fax [phone]; email [e-mail].