Patek Philippe Says Chinese Demand Still Rising

GENEVA, Switzerland - Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe is seeing good demand across the world, its president told Reuters on Thursday, playing down industry concerns about a potential slowdown in top luxury goods buyer China Data earlier in the day showed Swiss watch exports fell 7 percent in September, their first decline since April last year and adding to jitters that have hit luxury goods stocks Which has been making watches in Geneva since 1839, remains upbeat.

"Domestic Chinese demand is rising steadily, we sell more watches every month Not the very complicated pieces because taxes remain high, but the core collections," he added "Our expertise is in producing watches, we do not have the ambition to control our entire distribution worldwide," said Stern, adding it was risky to have too many proprietary stores or to take the whole distribution process in-house - a strategy recently embraced by rival Audemars Piguet.

Like neighbour Rolex, Patek Philippe is one of the last independent Swiss watch brands in an industry dominated by multi-brand groups such as Swatch and Richemont Asked about the Baselworld watch fair, recently shaken by the departure of several brands, Stern said it remained an important platform for Patek to meet retailers and journalists. . Source