Wall Street Journal Q&A with David King

How is offering top-notch service vital to your growth as a business and to your reputation?

“For luxury watch retailers, I believe that first-class customer service, expert knowledge, and sincere integrity are the key ingredients to growing a business and developing a loyal collector following. These three main principles have driven our family business for 100 years and five generations. The level of customer service is crucial and much higher to our customers when carrying many of the top brands in the industry. Our staff must not only be a knowledgeable representative of the store but representatives of the specific brands as well. With online shopping and automated services today our clients opt to shop for their luxury products for the experience, personalized interaction, and care they receive when they come to shop at our stores. While the industry and products also evolve each year, it’s our family passion and commitment to stay on top of our game as we continuously improve the customer’s experience and interactions each and every year.”

How do you keep your employees up to date on the latest watch models and collections?

“Being a nerd at heart, I believe that knowledge is king. We are considered experts in our industry and every representative of King Jewelers is responsible for understanding not only about the brands that we carry, but about other luxury Swiss brands as well. The idea is that our staff needs to know why a timepiece is special, whether in regards to a brands history, a particular technology, or even price barriers. Why is one piece better than another? Or why does this watch make a better fit in someone’s collection than another? Our philosophy here is to style and not to sell. Our employees are trained by brand representatives throughout the year and travel around the world for factory tours. We also host in-house product training on a weekly basis, provide them all with leading industry publications, and conduct education tests with prizes. All of this is done to ensure the consumer the best possible experience and to make them a King client forever.”

How do know you are offering the right mix of watch brands to your customers?

“When we assemble our collection of watch brands, it almost parallels creating a well-diversified investment portfolio. Our philosophy is to represent the best of the best, at all price points and categories. It reflects a ‘C Curve” for all those who took finance 101. We try not to have conflicting brands or products, but instead complimentary pieces that help guide a consumer into what timepiece is most appropriate. The strength of our family business is offering well-established Swiss brands such as Breguet, Breitling, Cartier, Chopard, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, etc, that offer tremendous brand equity in terms of perceived value. At the same time, we understand exclusivity and have a passion for unique items while keeping up with the hottest new technologies which explains why we specialize in luxury boutique brands such as HYT, HD3 Slyde, Jaquet Droz, Franc Vila, and Devon, to name a few. If we are excited about a product, our enthusiasm is appreciated by both our staff and clients; it’s a good thing we have great taste.”

What do you offer that gives you an edge over your competitors?

“King Jewelers focuses exclusively on our clients, services, and staff. We are fortunate to be authorized dealers for leading Swiss watch brands, but it’s more than just the names. It’s the allocated product where our industry strength ensures our clients that they get the juicy limited pieces as well as core collections. We differentiate ourselves with our founding philosophy that is driven by honesty and knowledge. We create a lifestyle for our clients and provide first-class customer service in all arenas. And while most companies continue to open their own mono-branded boutiques, our diverse selections, expert services, and ability to allow watch collectors to trade in and out of their timepieces cements the essential importance of key watch retailers around the world. It’s been a great thing where distribution has been cleaned up over the last few years. The idea is to do better and increased business with fewer accounts. If you want to be an important authorized watch dealer, you have to make your company special to both the consumer as well as the brand.”

Established in 1912, the King family has owned and operated King Jewelers for five generations while building an outstanding reputation steeped in quality, value, and first-class service. Today, King Jewelers has brick-and-mortar stores located in Aventura, FL and Nashville, TN, both of which have won numerous regional and national awards of distinction. Offering a magnificent selection of fine jewelry collections including the hottest Italian designs, estate jewelry, colored gemstones and fancy-colored diamonds, as well as luxury European timepieces, King Jewelers prides itself in being one step ahead of the trend. In addition, King Jewelers offers on-site jewelry and watch repairs, custom design services, appraisals, estate buying, and corporate gift programs.