Jewelers and watchmakers struggle with when they should enter the meta verse

For Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari, the question does not arise whether luxury goods brands should enter the meta persona. . . but how. He is worried that his high-end jewelry is "carried by a cubic avatar who looks like three compound Lego parts". But he can imagine a Bulgari "gemstone discount game".

The metaversum is a term that was shaped by Neal Stephenson in his science fiction novel from 1992 Schneekrash for a "computer-generated universe" in which people communicate via avatars.

Today its meaning varies. "[It is] partly a dream of the future of the Internet and partly a way to capture current trends in the online infrastructure, including the growth of real-time 3D worlds", says Metavers and Money: Decypting the Future , a report that was published in March by Citi GPS.

ronit ghose, global head of banking, fintech and digital assets at Citi Global Insights, says that the meta person is "immersive, permanent and a common virtual space".

"If you have a business model that comes into contact with the Internet in any way, or if you believe that your next generation will use the Internet to gain experience, choose, decide and do business, then you have to be interested in the meta -severse," he argues.

"It is simply the next generation of the Internet if you take this broad definition."

The Citi report estimates that the target market for the meta-verse economy in 2030 could be worth between $ 8 and 13 trillion, so it is not surprising that watch and jewelry brands have increased their investments.

At Bulgari, the improvement of the technology to make "more elegant" avatars is one of the tasks of the innovation unit, which was founded in 2020 and has a creative laboratory in Rome.

In the meantime, the Swiss watch manufacturer Tag Heuer has driven its digital strategy for its smartwatch Connected Calibre E4 last month. This function, which is available as a free update, enables owners, NFTS-digital tokens that are stored in a Blockchain and display unique assets such as art or media and are displayed in wallet apps. The watch connects to the owner's wallet app to check the authenticity.

Frédéric Arnault, CEO of TAG Heuer, which belongs to LVMH, says that it "feels of course" that the company is investigating this world, but that "it doesn't want to jump too quickly". "We don't want it to feel opportunistic," he says. "We want to come with a real vision that we can maintain and which increases the value."

Arnault, a collector of NFTS, says that his brand appeals to NFT enthusiasts. "As a starting point, it is very important to recognize and respect the community, and so we deliver a feature and a product that is useful and exciting for the community," he says.

In May, Tag Heuer, 12 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, started accepting for purchases on its US website, but still has to spend their own NFTs.

Thomas Chauvet, Head of Luxury Goods Equity Research at Citi, believes that brands, apart from networked watches, are not yet willing to explore the commercial possibilities of meta verse, as they initially opposed e-commerce.

instead, he says, they will concentrate on it as a "communication tool" or "authentication option".

Panerai, the Italian watch manufacturer, launched its first NFTs last month to "improve the customer experience", says CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué.

Buyer of the Radiomir Eilean Experience Edition watch - it is limited to 50 pieces - were invited to sail on board a classic yacht after which the watch was named, along the Italian amal fius, and received a digital wallet. This included an NFT artwork from Skygolpe, which unlocked exclusive content, services, events and offers.

"We wanted to add this NFT to offer the customer added value and to tell them that we will contact them before starting, during and after the experience," says Pontroué. "The NFT is a modern platform to connect people who love our brand."

Panerai, which belongs to Richemont, plans to give a digital pass every clock next year. This is something that Breitling has been doing since 2020 to enable owners to prove the authenticity of a watch and access the guarantee program.

Both watch manufacturers have received a partnership with Arianee, a French company that supports brands in creating and selling NFTs and using the tokens. Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel, CEO of Arianee, calls it "a new loyality tool".

The relationship between brands and communities changes, he says, because the customer keeps control of his data. At the same time, the brand regains control of its digital presence because it is no longer dependent on platforms like Instagram to achieve customers.

"The overarching goal is to build a decentralized database of owners, which you can then address thanks to the mechanisms of NFTs, to which you can offer a seamless journey [digital, physical and immersive] channels," says Hurstel.

In March, Bulgari launched the Octo Finissimo Ultra, the thinnest mechanical watch in the world, which is limited to only 10 pieces. Each watch has a QR code on the switching wheel of the feather house, which gives the owner access to an NFT artwork. You can also access a virtual 3D tour through the clockwork and practical data such as the maintenance logbook.

Two necklaces from the latest haute joaillerei collection, Bulgari Eden, The Garden of Wonders, have QR codes that link to NFT artworks. The house also revealed the purely digital Beyond Wonder, its "first NFT jewel".

According to Babin, the challenge of expanding this technology is to make the digital assets "really dynamic". "But on this side of the meta pattern I think we will bind customers [to the brand] to a much more intimate, more emotional and more urgent way," he says.

With digital assets, we bind customers much more intimate, emotional and more immersive to the brand

His first priority is to create "more points of contact" to achieve potential customers, since the meta person opens the door to "better visibility" and a "wider audience". He is aware that Bulgari has to be picky as a luxury brand: their market launches will be "extremely beautiful".

Last year the Bulgari Colors exhibition attracted almost 50,000 people in Seoul, South Korea. More than 10,000 people downloaded an app to experience a virtual reality version of the show in which users could design an avatar and explore exhibited pieces.

User of Drest, a fashion game, were able to style a Kate Moss-Avatar with pieces with pieces from the Supermodel joiblerie collection with pieces. This year the jeweler joined the app for two weeks to increase brand awareness, and almost 4 million people saw the content.

"There are more and more younger people who are rich and they want to get to know new brands, and this new generation has a new way of living, a new way of consuming [content]," says Valérie Messika, the founder of the French Diamond House.

ghose also points out the "large amount of wealth generation in the technology industry", who may want to address luxury brands, people who are "digital native" and are either invested in the meta -severse.

He says that a lot of experimentation is being experimented behind the scenes when companies adapt their digital strategies. "Ignore [The Metavers] will be very dangerous in three years," he says.