Australia leading world uptick in watch sales

Hard to believe now, but in 1983 the mechanical watch was on its last legs and the Swiss brands down to their last borrowings, all thanks to the arrival of cheap and accurate battery-driven quartz models It's commonly accepted that sales of cheaper watches have been affected hugely by connected timepieces, especially the Apple Watch Swatch collaborated with British artist Damien Hirst on two watches celebrating Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday.

Vacheron Constantin is one of the watch brands wanting to open a boutique in an Australian city Swatch Group head Nick Hayek could have been speaking for them all when he offered an explanation in a feisty interview with CNBC: "When you look at these old traditional watch fairs, it doesn't make any sense anymore We are present in the whole world with our brands, close to the consumer and the retailer.

We don't need a trade fair We might do something more creative with other partners out there." Jean-Claude Biver, one of the most influential figures in the global watch industry, has stepped down as president of the LVMH watch division for health reasons Aside from the usual gongs - sports watch won by Seiko, jewellery watch by Van Cleef & Arpels - our favourite was a new category, the Audacity Prize, awarded for "a bold and offbeat approach to watchmaking". Source