High Net-Worth Consumers Pick Luxury Leaders and Laggards; Wealthy Shoppers Rank Watches, Jewelry and Ultra-Luxury Autos in Luxury Institute WealthSurvey

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 10, 2011) - The independent and objective New York City-based Luxury Institute today releases the 2011 Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey of wealthy U.S. consumers, offering firsthand perspectives in three rapidly growing luxury categories: watches, jewelry and automobiles selling for $100,000 and up.

Consumers earning at least $200,000 a year rated each brand on quality, exclusivity, social status and overall ownership experience. They also rated brands' price worthiness, their willingness to recommend it and the likelihood they'll buy it next time they make a purchase in the category.

Here are the top brands in each category based on composite LBSI score (1-10):

• Watches
  • Blancpain 8.35
  • Rolex 8.01
  • Vacheron Constantin 7.85

• Jewelry
  • Graff 8.38
  • Buccellati 8.19
  • Asprey 8.05

• Ultra-Luxury Autos
  • Maybach 8.44
  • Bentley 8.32
  • Bugatti Veyron 8.22

"Overall LBSI scores yield accurate measures of brand prestige but actual buying behavior and recommendations of wealthy consumers tend to favor brands that are more practical, even if less exclusive," says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, "For example, BMW and Mercedes are the two most frequently owned auto brands and those most likely to be recommended to family and friends, but the $2.6 million Bugatti Veyron has far more exclusivity."

More details from the proprietary Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey, broken down by respondents' age, gender income and wealth, are available to journalists and upon request.

About The Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the objective and independent global voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute conducts extensive and actionable research with wealthy consumers about their behaviors and attitudes on customer experience best practices. In addition, we work closely with top-tier luxury brands to successfully transform their organizational cultures into more profitable customer-centric enterprises. Our Luxury CRM Culture consulting process leverages our fact-based research and enables luxury brands to dramatically Outbehave as well as Outperform their competition. The Luxury Institute also operates LuxuryBoard.com, a membership-based online research portal, and the Luxury CRM Association, a membership organization dedicated to building customer-centric luxury enterprises.