Luxury Watches - China

This subsegment contains luxury wristwatches and pocket watches. Also included are smartwatches by the covered luxury brands (the Apple Watch, except for Hermès’ licensed adaptation, is not included). In contrast to the Watches segment in the Consumer Market Outlook’s Accessories market, handmade watches are included here.

The shown market data are based on an analysis of more than 100 of the biggest luxury companies in the world. A complete list of all companies and brands covered can be found in the methodology description. Accordingly, watches from smaller companies or artisanal production unaffiliated with the companies covered are not included. All data are shown at retail value, which includes markups for retail distribution and sales taxes.

The biggest companies in this segment are Swatch (Omega, Longines, Breguet, Rado and other brands), Richemont (Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Piaget), LVMH (TAG Heuer, Hublot and other brands) and of course Rolex with its eponymous Rolex brand as well as Tudor. A detailed list of all assessed companies and their brands can be found in the methodology. An exception to the rule to attribute all company brand sales to the respective company parent has been made for Frédérique Constant, which has recently been acquired by (otherwise not included) Citizen but is still listed independently here.

Growth in the Luxury Watches category has been stimulated mostly by emerging markets over the past few years, but a dramatic change in consumption habits linked to the anti-corruption campaign in China has put a dent in global sales. Only in 2017 did the segment return to growth, but persisting weak demand in the core markets of the luxury goods industry (North America and Western Europe), as well as the current uncertainty of the world economy at large, and possible future trade barriers indicate a relatively muted outlook for the industry.

eCommerce sales hold a high growth potential, yet they are comparatively underdeveloped in the Luxury Watches segment. The industry has been slow to embrace this sales channel out of an aversion against the high visibility on platforms, whose content the brands cannot completely control, as well as an unwillingness to disrupt the well-functioning distribution structure, which still relies heavily on independent retailers and department stores. This digital space has been explored instead by design-focused online-pure start-up brands in the mid-market to entry-level luxury region, like Sweden’s Daniel Wellington, which use the benefits of social media marketing.