Guam and the Asian region performed well for Rolex according to a visiting Rolex executive from Geneva.
Yves Meylan Rolex representative; visited Guam the week of Sept. 25 and met with the Journal at the Caronel Rolex Boutique in Tumon. “We are quite satisfied with the business and we trust that with this additional place with the growing traffic habit it will continue to increase ” he said.
Angel C. Mendoza president and general manager of Caronel Inc. of Guam; said “Mr. Meylan makes his visit to Guam once annually.”
Caronel is now nearing its second year of selling the luxury timepieces in the Caronel Rolex Boutique in The Plaza in Tumon. “That’s a project that was carried between Caronel and Rolex Geneva regarding the identity that we wanted to give and that was well carried out ” Meylan said.
Mendoza said “Our business … caters a lot to the tourists and the majority of the customers come from Japan as well as the local community.”
The Journal asked if Caronel is studying the military market to see if there would be new business generated by a build up of military personnel on Guam.
Mendoza said “We’re always looking into that. We’re also trying to grow the local market and we do our business where we can. The military — there is always a potential there. However being new we don’t know what this would create but we’re always on the lookout trying to see and learn from them as to what their preferences are. We always get a lot of officers from the military here who are interested in owning a watch like this.”
As time-keeping is switched by a large consumer market to cell phones and PDAs and other technological devices the Journal asked if watches are now seen more as jewelry or a functional piece. “A watch is the only piece of jewelry men will wear besides a necklace or neck chain or a ring ” Meylan said.
“We couldn’t imagine comparing time from a cell phone versus time from a quality Swiss timepiece. It’s like comparing a newspaper photograph to the Mona Lisa ” Mendoza said.
He said the business of selling luxury timepieces is very competitive not just on Guam but at other locales in the world. “Our company not only competes with companies around Guam but Guam itself competes with other destinations i.e. Honolulu Hong Kong Singapore Sydney and other areas where you have tropical tourist destinations ” he said. “In essence there is domestic competition and international competition.” MBJ
