Dubai: When Will Stein and his wife Rina first launched their watch brand Philip Stein, they had not imagined that in eight years their brand would be worn by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and that it would be sold at more than 500 points of sale worldwide. Gulf News met with Will Stein, President of Philip Stein, to talk about the brand's success story and where he plans to take it next.
Gulf News: What's the story behind the Philip Stein brand?
Will Stein: In 2002, my wife and I were approached by two people who had a new technology that can help a person feel more relaxed. We thought if this is true then we can basically revolutionise the watch world because nobody had a well-being accessory in a beautiful luxurious watch. We looked at the whole picture and said we're going to market this.
How is it a well-being accessory and how does the technology work?
This technology is basically a disc inside the watch that is infused with frequencies. Our body is constantly attacked by different frequencies, whether it's your cell phone or lighting, etc; so your ‘biofield' or energy field is constantly attacked. What this watch does is it enforces and enlarges your biofield and as a result it's almost like you're in a cocoon. If you have a stronger biofield all of the aches and pains you have will go away. The body will basically heal itself because you're now in a calm and relaxed mode.
How were you able to make it big in such a short period of time?
In 2003 we were very fortunate because we got a break. [TV host] Oprah was given our watch by Madonna as a gift. Oprah called us and said that she loves the idea of the watch and would like to present it on her show Oprah's Favourite Things. You can imagine what happens when Oprah endorses something. The people went wild. They didn't even remember the name of the brand. They would go to the store and say we want that Oprah watch. We basically went from zero dollars when we started the company to $5 million in basically six months.
What are your upcoming plans? What do you want to do with the brand, moving forward?
Now that we've been in the market for eight years, I wanted to have proof that this technology works. We've now developed a new bracelet which can help people sleep better. We conducted a study with an independent sleep lab in Atlanta to prove that you fall asleep faster, deeper, and wake up more refreshed — all of this we were able to prove. The sleep bracelet is not out yet, but it will be in September.
In which markets are you present it today?
We started in the United States and with Oprah being the endorser, we were off to a quick start. In 2004, I started to travel and expand the brand internationally. We went to Asia, Europe and the Middle East. It wasn't easy because it's not only a watch. It's also a well-being accessory and it's a luxury item. So you've got several things to market for. Today we're in around 30 countries. In the Middle East, we're in Qatar, Bahrain and of course the UAE.
The United States is still our strongest market, but Asia and the emerging mar kets would be great potential for our brand.
In Asia, we are focusing on China. China is the future for anything. Every-thing is booming there. India is another important market. It's not easy to get into, but I think with our product there's an open ear for it because it has to do with energy. They are already with this idea because of their culture. It's not alien at all to them.
What are your expansion plans in the UAE?
We want to put a major push behind Philip Stein in the UAE because there's a huge potential for all different market segments here. We're currently in 15 points of sale, exclusively with the Rivoli Group. We'd like to expand that to 30 points in the course of 12 months. It's an aggressive plan, but a realistic plan as well. We're going to put a lot of marketing behind it as well because you have several market segments.
How much does a Philip Stein watch cost? How have your sales been doing over the years?
The entry price is $600 (Dh2,206) and it goes up to $20,000 if you've got gold and diamonds on it. Our sales were growing year on year since we started in 2002. In 2008, we got hit by the recession just like everyone else. Our sales dropped.
Now we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. 2010 is already doing much better than 2009. However, we sell between 60,000 to 80,000 watches a year.
