London – Swatch Group has become the latest European luxury goods giant to acquire a property on New Bond Street, the UK capital’s most expensive retail precinct.
Swatch announced on Friday that it had purchased the building at 171 New Bond Street, which has housed its Harry Winston brand since 2006. The transaction was valued at 90 million Swiss francs, or approximately £81 million.
It was erected in 1856 and measures over 6,000 square feet over five floors. Harry Winston reopened its salon space in 2016 after a nine-month renovation. Swatch Group says it will feature fine jewelry, watches and some of the “world’s rarest diamonds and gemstones.”
Swatch announced that it had acquired a 14,500 sq ft site at 32-33 Old Bond Street in the first half of this year for approximately CHF 120 million, or £108 million.
Savills said the building, known as Swan House, is a mixed-use space that has been fully leased to Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent for 10 years.
Swatch Group also announced in the first half of this year that it had acquired a store on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.
With its investment in New Bond Street, Swatch joins the ranks of luxury brands such as Kering, Compagnie Financière Richemont, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Chanel, all of which have at least one store in the fashionable Mayfair shopping district. owns real estate.
A Cushman & Wakefield report published late last year said New Bond Street was the fourth most expensive street in the world and the second most expensive shopping street in Europe.
Mr Cushman described the street as “by far the most expensive street to shop in the UK”, with average prime rents last year of $1,361 per square foot, more than double Sloane Street’s $607. .
Many of the properties on the street are owned directly by major luxury groups.
A separate report published by Savills earlier this year found that New Bond Street (the northern end of Bond Street) is attracting attention from luxury brands following the redevelopment of the Great Portland Estate near Hanover Square. became the destination.
Mr Savills said in May that demand for space in New Bond Street is so high that rents are expected to rise over the next two years and will soon become the highest rents in the whole of Bond Street.
British media reports say Saint Laurent paid more than £13 million a year for the high-rise property, breaking rent records on the street and in the UK.
The new Saint Laurent store will be located on the corner of Grafton Street and New Bond Street, just south of where sister brand Gucci recently opened.
Saint Laurent’s parent company, Kering, did not provide further details.