Swiss watch exports perform strongly in March

Swiss watch exports were boosted in March as their value increased by 6.3% compared with the previous year – the highest monthly increase since January 2014. 

This is according to the latest statistics from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry which found that, at almost £1.8bn (£1.25bn) francs, the result helped the sector to a “very good” first quarter, surpassing the level of 5bn (£3.4bn) francs and recording growth of 3.1%.

The value of Swiss watches was lifted in particular by precious metal watches, where the total number of timepieces leapt by 13.2% – the highest figure in more than three years.

Meanwhile, watches costing less than 200 francs (£139) performed particularly well in March with an increase of more than 22%. FH also said that timepieces costing more than 3,000 francs (£2,087) played a “key role” in improving the overall result.

However, the 200 to 500 francs (£139 to £347) category continued to slow with a modest decline, recording its second consecutive month, while the 500 to 3,000 francs (£347 to £2,087) category dragged down the overall result, as it has done for the past seven months.

Watches performed particularly well in the United States and Europe, where there was an overall growth increase of 20% and 16.3% respectively.

Despite this, sales performed badly in Asia where in Hong Kong sales “plunged” into the red and after two months of positive results, China once again registered a decline.