Shipments of Swiss watches rose 11% year on year in November amid continued strength in the US market and improvements in the UK, Japan and Singapore.
Total exports for the month came to CHF 2.41 million ($2.61 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported Tuesday.
Supply to the US, the sector’s largest market, grew 33% to CHF 400.1 million ($432.2 million), while orders from the UK climbed 18% to CHF 158.3 million ($171 million). Exports to Japan rose 20%, with shipments to Singapore up 29%. Orders from Italy advanced 20%, while Germany gained 15%.
Those increases outweighed a 12% drop in supply to China — for a total of CHF 212 million ($229 million) — and a 9% slip to CHF 183.8 million ($198.5 million) for Hong Kong.
“In November, Swiss watch exports recorded their best-ever performance,” the federation noted. “The United States continued to fulfill its role as a global driver, with a 22nd month of very strong growth. China saw a decline for the second consecutive month, following the recovery during the summer. Hong Kong continued on a downward trend, while the other main Asian markets, including Japan and Singapore, performed strongly.”
Watches priced under CHF 200 ($216) saw steady improvement, going up 16%. Timepieces valued between CHF 500 and CHF 3,000 ($540 to $3,240) were flat, while those priced over CHF 3,000 jumped 16%. Goods between CHF 200 and CHF 500 slid 30%.
In the first 11 months of the year, Swiss watch exports gained 12% year on year to CHF 22.8 billion ($24.63 billion).
Image: IWC Schaffhausen watches at a store window in Geneva, Switzerland. (Shutterstock)
