US is back as the number-one market for Swiss watches

With an 11.4% drop in exports to this special administrative region of China for 2019, figures announced by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry for the month of January confirm a dire situation as shipments to Hong Kong plummeted by 25% For the same month, exports to China, where the epidemic took hold, increased by 7% although the next batch of numbers is expected to paint a different picture, with China going the same way as Hong Kong This leaves the door open for the United States, where exports gained 152% in January, to reclaim its spot as the main international market for Swiss watch brands.

Could it be that the Apple Watch has sparked interest among US consumers for "Real" timepieces? One thing is for sure: while there is no denying the popularity of Apple's connected watch on the North American market, it doesn't appear to have dented the potential of Swiss mechanical watches The group, the world's largest watch retailer with revenue estimated in the region of CHF 2 billion, snapped up the 28 Tourneau boutiques and the four Baron & Leeds stores in the United States - described by Jörg Baumann, Head of Marketing and Business Development, as the main strategic market for watches At the time of the acquisitions in 2018, the group already operated 34 points of sale in the US.

Watches of Switzerland is another one to have the US in its sights Self-proclaimed number-one retailer of Rolex, Cartier and Breitling watches in the United Kingdom, the British group has also crossed the Atlantic with the acquisition in 2017 of the Mayors chain of watch and jewellery stores in Florida and Georgia Speaking last year, Watches of Switzerland Executive Vice President David Hurley said, "It's not just about gaining market share.

The American market can grow in absolute terms It is already six times the size of the British market for jewellery but only one and a half times the size of the United Kingdom for watches You can see the growth potential" A potential that clearly hasn't been lost on the world's largest and second-largest watch retailers. Source