This year’s honorees include a Midwest retailer and two multi-store independents, one in New York and the other in New England.
LVMH Watch, Jewelry Revenue Up 8% in First-Half 2018
An “excellent” six-month period for Bulgari and strong watch sales propelled the division.

Paris—A strong performance from Bulgari helped boost revenues in the half-year period for the Watches & Jewelry division of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
LVMH said in its six-month results released Wednesday that the division’s revenue grew 8 percent on a reported basis to €1.98 billion ($2.31 billion). Profit from recurring operations was up 46 percent.
The company attributed much of the growth to Bulgari. LVMH said the watch and jewelry brand had an “excellent” first half, particularly in the American and Chinese markets, and continued to gain market share.
The brand’s Serpenti, B-Zero 1, Diva and Octo lines all reportedly made strong progress, while Chaumet unveiled its new high-end jewelry collection.
LVMH also noted a “good” performance from its watch brands in the half-year period.
TAG Heuer added new models its flagship Carrera, Aquaracer and Formula 1 collections and launched a smaller version of its smartwatch.
Hublot saw strong growth, benefiting from the brand’s enhanced visibility as the official timekeeper of the FIFA World Cup, LVMH said.
Overall, LVMH recorded group revenue of €21.75 billion ($25.41 billion) in the first half of 2018, which is an increase of 10 percent (on a reported basis) over the prior-year period. Organic revenue growth was 12 percent compared with the same period in 2017.
Fashion & Leather Goods saw the greatest revenue growth for the company at 25 percent on a reported basis. Perfumes & Cosmetics tied with the Watches & Jewelry division at 8 percent growth.
Selective Retailing saw only a 1 percent revenue increase, helped along by a strong performance from Sephora.
Wines & Spirits was the only LVMH division to record a decline, reporting a 1 percent decrease in reported revenue in the first half of the year.
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