A year of the rabbit for watch brands?
China, which weighed on watch exports at end 2022, will be the key to activity in 2023, a year that opens with mixed prospects. Will China’s impact on luxury sales be as great as in 2021?
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What next for the pre-owned market?
Once dismissed as a hang-out for unscrupulous traders touting fakes, in little more than a decade the pre-owned watch market has grown to remarkable proportions and is expected to surpass sales of new watches. Consultancy firm LuxeConsult predicts this reversal in roles for 2033.
The Geneva Watch Tour: revealing the wonders of horology
An initiative of the magazine GMT, the Geneva Watch Tour invites visitors to discover Geneva’s watch industry through its shops and historic monuments.
Auction houses under the microscope
The recent spring sales in Geneva certainly lived up to expectations, particularly at Christie's. At the end of an eight-hour marathon, the auction house garnered a total CHF 30.3 million (EUR 25.5 million), its second highest ever result including record prices for two Breguet timepieces. The international head of Christie's watch department, Aurel Bacs, spoke enthusiastically about the depth of bidding with buyers from 42 different countries, and the strong presence of private collectors who took eight of the day's top ten sales.
Concepto positions itself as an alternative to Swatch Group
The group, based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, has set up a new company, Optimo Assortments, which will supply full assortments to the watch industry as of the second half of the year, with the capacity to produce 400,000 kits a year. In doing so, it positions itself as the only serious alternative to Swatch Group.
