Swiss watchmakers celebrate a vintage year

Swiss watch exports grew by 6.3% in 2018, breaking the CHF21 billion mark Exports to Hong Kong shot up by 19.1% and to China by 11.7% Swiss watchmakers enjoyed vigorous demand from East Asia, which resulted in the second-best annual result ever, according to figures published on Tuesday by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industryexternal link.

"Despite slower growth and the risks tied to the trade war between the United States and China, the Chinese middle class continues to grow and its attraction to Swiss watches remains intact," he told swissinfo The good health of the Swiss watch industry can also be seen in the number of people who work in the branch Within one year, almost 3,000 jobs were created in the 700 or so Swiss watchmaking companies, according to estimates given to swissinfo.

The 57,800 current employees are not far from the record of almost 60,000 seen in 2014, the reference point for Swiss watchmaking since its reorientation towards the luxury sector at the beginning of this century Increasingly qualified, watchmakers aren't building on the growing automation that has been seen in the sector in recent years, he said. . Source