Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter launch partnership to become online retailers for Watches & Wonders

E-commerce specialists Net-Porter and Mr Porter have struck an agreement with luxury watch fair Watches & Wonders (W&W) to become the “privileged multi-brand online retailers” for W&W starting September 28.

The partnership will extend to online and offline events and will see a total of 14 brands showcased on both Net-Porter and Mr Porter.

Net-a-Porter will showcase brands including Cartier, Hermès, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger LeCoultre, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin.

Mr Porter meanwhile will host products from 13 watch maisons including Cartier, HYT and Panerai, Ulysse Nardin and Bovet. Ulysse Nardin will launch with eight timepieces on the platform, while Bovet will launch with four timepieces, including the limited-edition Dimier Recital 27 Green.

By way of this partnership, Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter will organise exclusive EIP (Extremely Important Person) virtual events and small-scale appointment-based activity, virtual one-to-one appointments and interactive Instagram Live conversations hosted by Net-a-Porter and Porter’s editor-in-chief, Sarah Bailey, and Mr Porter’s senior watch editor, Chris Hall.

Read: Rethinking luxury watch fairs

Both the Yoox Net-a-Porter Group retailers will also introduce new website enhancements to the luxury watch shopping experience, including an improved size guide and the addition of trend-driven, occasion-based and material filters.

“By teaming up with the world’s premier watch showcase, we want to provide an international platform for the most exceptional timepieces, supporting an environment where their stories – and those of their iconic makers – can come alive and be accessed by watch lovers across the globe,” said Alison Loehnis, president, Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter.

Matthieu Humair, CEO of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, added : “We are pleased to announce this unique partnership between Watches & Wonders and Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter. It brings together selected partner brands of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie alongside exclusive content to create a new channel for fine watchmaking.”

Earlier this month, Watches & Wonders hosted an on-ground event in Shanghai. Eleven brands participated in the fair – including A. Lange & Söhne, Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Panerai – that took place from September 9-13, 2020, at the West Bund Art Center.

Read: China to host Watches & Wonders luxury watch fair this September