Optimera: Still ticking: The improbable survival of the luxury watch business

torsdag 20 oktober 2016

Still ticking: The improbable survival of the luxury watch business

On 17 March 2016, the watch manufacturer Breitling opened a lavish new stall at Baselworld, the world’s biggest watch fair, to show off its latest marvels.
--
For eight days each year, Basel becomes the centre of the watch universe. The fair’s organisers claimed 150,000 paying visitors and 1,800 brands spread over 141,000 square metres of exhibition space. Admission cost 60 Swiss francs a day (almost £50), for which one could have bought a nice Timex.
--
Some booths were also selling jewellery – including Chanel, Gucci and Chopard – and some brands were selling watches covered in jewels.
--
In 2015 the world bought 28.1m Swiss watches valued at 21.5 billion Swiss francs.
--
Patek Philippe prides itself on being the last independently owned watchmaker in Geneva. The company has been in the hands of the Stern family since 1932.
--
In the last six years Stern has increased annual production from about 40,000 watches to 60,000, which is still a minuscule output compared to a Swiss giant like Rolex, which produces more than 700,000 watches a year. Exclusivity is a key to desirability.
--
In 2014, the Swiss exported 29m watches. This was only 1.7% of all watches bought globally, but 58% of their value.