[Luxury World] Luxury Wedding Gifts That Make 'May Brides' Cry... 'Fred' Joins Price Increase

As luxury brands continue their price hike rally from the beginning of the year, jewelry and watch brands are also raising prices ahead of the wedding season.

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According to the luxury industry on the 18th, French luxury jewelry brand FRED will increase prices on some items around mid-next month. The increase is reported to be around 10%. This is the first price hike in about a year since the last increase in March of last year. A department store official said, “Although the exact date has not been announced, the price increase is expected to take place before the end of March.”

The price increase is expected to focus mainly on popular gold products. The price of FRED’s iconic bracelet cable products is also expected to rise. The ‘Fosten Ring (medium size, 18K white gold),’ which is popular for various anniversaries, proposals, and wedding rings, is currently priced at 3.5 million KRW on the official website. If the 10% price increase is applied, the price will jump to around 3.8 million KRW. The ‘Chance Infini Ring (medium size, 18K pink gold with diamonds)’ is priced at 7.9 million KRW, and after the increase, it will soar to over 8.5 million KRW.

The price of bracelets, which are popular among both men and women because a single buckle purchase allows compatibility depending on the cable color, is also expected to rise. Currently, cables can be purchased for 400,000 to 500,000 KRW, but in the future, buyers will likely have to pay more than 500,000 KRW.

As luxury brands have been consecutively raising prices since early this year, recent news of price hikes from jewelry and watch brands has been continuously reported. This phenomenon appears annually ahead of the ‘wedding season,’ when engaged couples visit department stores to prepare wedding gifts.

On the 7th, French luxury jewelry brand Boucheron raised prices by 7-10% on all products, and next month, Italian luxury jewelry brand Bulgari, part of the Louis Vuitton Mo?t Hennessy (LVMH) group, will join the price hike trend. Cartier, a French luxury jewelry and watch brand under the Richemont group, which raised prices twice last year in April and November, is also expected to increase prices mainly on watch products in April.

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Watch brands that are popular choices among grooms for wedding gifts have completed their price hike decisions following Rolex’s increase on the 1st of last month. Rolex raised watch prices by about 8%, and its sister brand Tudor applied the same increase. Luxury brands under the Swatch Group, Breguet and Blancpain, will raise prices by 10-15% starting next month. Longines, a tier below, also raised prices by 7% this month.

Although luxury brand prices are soaring to unprecedented levels, department stores often face situations where they cannot sell enough due to lack of stock. This is because demand for wedding gifts explodes around this time. It is rare for customers to give up purchasing just because prices have risen slightly.

Professor Eunhee Lee of Inha University’s Department of Consumer Studies said, “In Korea, there is a prevailing perception that luxury rings and luxury wedding gifts must be prepared when getting married. Even if luxury brands raise prices and engage in bold pricing strategies, it is time to have an attitude of preparing for marriage according to one’s own situation and a culture that respects that.”

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