By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter

A 150-year-old brand of luxury watches and jewels like Chopard requires no introduction to the region’s elite and affluent sections in a country that has a large number of millionaires and even billionaires.

A visit to the company’s cute and catchy counter at the Alfardan Jewellery pavilion at the Doha Jewellery & Watches Exhibition will reveal in no uncertain terms the true worth of the priceless creations that are displayed there.

“Each of these limited-edition watches has consumed anywhere between six and 18 months for completion and no less than 50 to 100 craftsmen have been involved in the making of each piece,” said Ute Hasenmayer, a company official looking after exhibitions and other businesses in the GCC region, which is one of their largest markets.

Explaining that the creativity of Swiss craftsmen has grown manifold over generations, Hasenmayer said this has contributed considerably to the growth of the watch industry in the last 50-60 years.

“Many of the watches and jewels displayed here are priced over QR1mn and one of them almost QR2mn,” said Hasenmayer, recalling that the company has a long association with Qatar with many of its long-time clients being locals.

The limited-edition watches that Chopard has at its stall at the expo also has many sport and classic models. “Sport models have always had good patronage among the local youth and this year, too, we expect good sales,” he added.