The biggest boom in Swiss luxury watch history is coming to an end. writes about this Bloomberg.
In the three years since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a huge increase in interest in this sector, with more people wanting to wear luxury mechanical wristwatches from iconic Swiss brands (Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Rolex) on their wrists. Thus, the export of Swiss luxury watches broke a record in 2022; the watches were sold for almost 25 billion francs ($28.5 billion).
However, a number of challenges such as high interest rates and slowing economic growth have curbed interest in such luxuries.
The decline in the watch business was revealed in November when Cartier owner Richemont announced its half-year results. They showed a 3% decrease in watch sales and a 17% decrease in the Americas.
Exports of Swiss watches fell in July for the first time in more than two years, with average growth in recent months lagging well behind the pace in the first half of the year. The cost of used watches has also fallen, as has been observed for more than a year, Bloomberg said.
Customs officers in Kazan before discovered The passenger has six Rolex watches under his clothing.