Despite all what’s going on in the world and watch industry as I’m writing this, the August export data shared by the Foundation of the Swiss Watch Industry keeps a steady course.
As per the FH “over the last twelve months, watches made from precious metals have shown consistent growth. Steel timepieces, however, have witnessed a long slowdown, ultimately resulting in a downturn.”
In addition the FH adds that “in volume terms, performance has been very disappointing in the Steel, Other materials and Other metals categories. The number of items exported in August fell by 220,000 units.” The onslaught on the sub-500 CHF category continues with percentages bleeding in the deep dark reds as shown on the graph above.
As can be seen above, the Hong Kong numbers are clearly impacted by what is currently going on in the region. France, not shown in the graph, has in contrast started to recover from the previous negative numbers following months of turmoil.