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Cartier threw a party in Singapore this week as part of its year-long programme of celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of its iconic Trinity jewellery range. Some 600 guests including K-pop star Jisoo and Hong Kong rapper Jackson Wang — who both star in the current Trinity ad campaign — and Thai star Thanapob Leeratanakachorn (known as Tor) arrived at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre. There were food trucks in the colours of the three bands of the Trinity (white, yellow and rose gold), photo booths and performances by Australian choreographer Rafael Bonachela, Singaporean pianist Churen Li and Thai singer and Cartier brand ambassador Jeff Satur. “It’s like a fanfare for grown-ups,” remarked Candice Lake, the Australian, London-based model-turned-photographer.
The party was held ahead of the opening of Cartier’s travelling and modular pop-up showcase, Trinity 100, at Singapore’s Arts House — a new concept that was first unveiled in Shanghai last week. The artworks on show are all inspired by the Trinity collection and part of a wider project called Imagine Infinite Circles, curated by Jérôme Sans, co-founder of Paris’s Palais de Tokyo (Wang, Bonachela, Li and Lake feature in the Singapore pop-up, alongside Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi, American artist Alex Prager and more). The showcase opens to the public from 15 to 23 July, before travelling to Japan in October and the US in December.
After anniversary events in the luxury hotspots of New York, London and Paris, Cartier brought the celebrations to Singapore in recognition of its enduring position as a gateway to Southeast Asia. “Singapore is a true hub, it’s also probably the most international place in the whole region,” Yanina Novitskaya, Cartier CEO of Southeast Asia and Oceania, tells Vogue Business. Hosting it in Singapore is a way to maximise the brand’s impact in the region. “We can create a ripple effect.”
The luxury industry in Singapore is expected to grow 10.8 per cent in 2024 to 13.5 billion Singapore dollars (€9.2 billion), according to Euromonitor. That’s a strong growth rate at a time when luxury — notably in China — is experiencing a slowdown. “In recent years, Singapore has been able to attract more and more business from China, taking more and more relevance as a regional hub, alternative to Hong Kong,” says Mario Ortelli, managing director of Ortelli & Co. Travel retail is a particular opportunity: Cartier is among a raft of international brands to have opened stores in Singapore’s Changi airport since the start of 2024 — others are Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Moncler and Roger Vivier.
The world’s largest jeweller is well established in the country. “Singapore will celebrate 60 years next year [the proclamation of Singapore was on 9 August 1965] and Cartier 30 years,” says Novitskaya. Cartier counts three stores in central Singapore (in the Ion Orchard, Takashimaya at Ngee Ann City and Marina Bay Sands shopping malls) plus its new boutique in Changi airport.
However, there are some headwinds for luxury in Singapore. HSBC has revised its “rest of Asia” growth down from 16 per cent to 11 per cent this year. “Chinese nationals are purchasing incrementally in Japan for reasons linked to price arbitrage and culture, but not as much as we had hoped for in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia,” says Erwan Rambourg, HSBC global head of consumer and retail research, noting that Thailand is an exception. “The visa waiver scheme has helped but otherwise Chinese consumption in Asia excluding Japan has been disappointing and local consumers themselves have not been that supportive either.”
Novitskaya confirms that shopping has levelled off in Singapore after a pandemic boom. “The outflow of locals is a bit higher than the income of Chinese travellers but the beauty of this region is that we have a very important pool of our clients which are intra-regional travellers,” Novitskaya explains. “That’s why one of my biggest focuses last year was to open travel retail so when locals start to travel, they still have this opportunity and the touch point with us. Bangkok is performing super well: it’s one of the top three airports for Cartier, so we catch a lot of Thai clients at the airport. The same is now happening after the opening [of Cartier’s store] in Changi airport.”
There are still plenty of opportunities. Singapore has a population of around 6 million with a high concentration of billionaires: 39 Singaporeans were on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list in 2024, up from 35 in 2023 and 26 in 2022. It had 333,204 millionaires (in USD) in 2023 and the number of millionaires is expected to grow by 13 per cent by 2028, according to the latest UBS Global Wealth Report. And top customers fancy high jewellery and high-ticket watches. “Watchmaking is a very big category for us. The market is very strong,” says Novitskaya.
Singapore’s Orchard Road has kept its place as the 12th most expensive retail destination in the world, according to a report by Cushman and Wakefield released in November 2023. It’s home to the Ion Orchard shopping mall, where a number of luxury brands are renovating their stores and taking over floors — Cartier is already present with a three-storey 650-square-metre flagship.
“It’s not only the capitals like Singapore, Sydney and Bangkok,” adds Novitskaya, citing Malaysia, Vietnam (where Cartier started operating directly last year), the Philippines and Indonesia. She also sees more potential in Thailand (notably Phuket), New Zealand and still in Australia, “one of the most popular countries for wealth migration right now”, she says. On 20 August, Cartier will open its sixth store in Australia, in Perth.
“Our main target is really to identify what is sustainable growth for us [after the pandemic boom of domestic sales within Singapore],” says Novitskaya. “Another very strong focus here is the high-end business. We organise high-end moments across the region — two years ago with a high jewellery interregional event in Bangkok and last February in Sydney.” Singapore was another no-brainer. “Singapore is a melting pot of cultures, so it’s natural to do Trinity celebrations here,” concludes Novitskaya. And as Singapore gears up to celebrate its 60th anniversary next year, it’s likely more opportunities will follow.
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