The newly-open Bvlgari store in HCMC. Photo courtesy of Bvlgari Vietnam. 

Italian luxury brand Bvlgari has returned to Vietnam and opened its first store in HCMC. 

The store opened in a shopping mall in District 1, HCMC, in February but without a formal opening ceremony due to the Covid-19 outbreak and official orders not to congregate in large numbers.

The brand is known for its Bvlgari Serpenti jewelry and watches, the B.Zero1 Jewellery collection and Octo Finissimo watches.

Some of its products cost more than €25,000 ($30,180).

The brand used to be sold in Vietnam through a local distributor, Imex Pan Pacific Group, until March 2019. In October that year, it established a subsidiary in the country.

A Bulgari Vietnam spokesperson told VnExpress it returns to Vietnam due to the potential of the market owing to rapid urbanization and economic growth.

It is the right time to return since "we will be able to approach our potential customers, who usually buy luxury products when traveling to foreign countries," the spokesperson said.

According to the market and consumer data provider Statista, the Vietnamese luxury goods market is expected to be worth $1.14 billion in 2021 and grow at 7.17 percent annually until 2025.

Bvlgari, founded in 1884 sold a majority stake in 2011 to French luxury group Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.