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In what most fashion industry professionals and financially oriented observers believe to be very difficult economic times, both Gucci’s and Versace’s watches seem to be bucking the trend. Each watch manufacturer is reporting very positive sales numbers, which is reinvigorating the fashion and luxury watch industry during a time when it certainly needs to be reinvigorated.

Gucci, which is controlled by PPR, a French luxury goods conglomerate that specializes in luxury watch brands and retail shops, has revealed to Wall Street and beyond that their fourth quarter sales have risen 3.4 percent, to approximately 640 million euros, which has raised its share values by about 7.1 percent. And Versace has had positive fourth quarter sales as well, going up approximately 8.2 percent. These are quite surprising and encouraging numbers indeed, especially considering that earlier this month, Dow Jones reported that luxury watch and jewelry sales in general are going down.

It is apparent that both Versace and Gucci are utilizing market strategies that are primarily focusing on their respective brand’s integrity as opposed to jiggering their marketing tactics in such way as to deal with (or compensate for) the global economic downturn/recession.

The chairman of PPR, Mr. Franois-Henri Pinault (the son of the company’s founder, Mr. François Pinault) believes that the global recession may alter the speed with which Gucci et al would like to implement their plans but it will certainly not affect their company’s overall global strength.

The Chief Executive Officer of Versace, Mr. Giancarlo Di Risio seems essentially to agree with his contemporary, Mr. Pinault. He has said that it is very important not to make tactical maneuvers and decisions that could negatively effect the positioning of a company’s brand, and that more than anything, companies always need to be consistent with their existing strategies so that they can continue to function as a “precise reference point” for their clients. Furthermore, Mr. Di Risio went on to say that when the current period of economic crisis comes to an end, important clientele will tend to remember the brands that have maintained a certain degree of consistency with their marketing and brand strategies.

It will be interesting for followers of the high-end jewelry and luxury timepiece industries to see if rival brands of Versace and Gucci will follow their leads and adopt similar market strategies.

Both Versace and Gucci will be showing their autumn and winter 2009-10 collections next week in Milan, Italy.