The Swiss watch industry has prospered over time, totaling $32.5B in export revenue in 2024 alone. While this represents a slight dip from the two prior years, this remains a status-driven sector with plenty of long-term growth potential. But the industry’s short-term outlook is grim. President Trump raised the tariffs levied against Swiss imports to a whopping 39 percent, and America is its largest market. Swiss-based watch brands have been scrambling for solutions.
The Swiss government knows tariffs can impact its lucrative, signature businesses, and it has been trying to intervene. In a recent effort to placate the administration, as part of a trade negotiation, Switzerland is offering to help reduce the U.S. trade deficit by increasing its investment in American industries, including gold refining.
Luxury Marques
Rolex, Cartier, and Omega have been the top three brands in this industry by revenue since 2017, followed by Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe to round out the top five. In recent years, Vacheron Constantine and Breitling have each done an impressive job ascending into the top 10. Partnerships have upped the ante with these luxury brands. Breitling is on a run, having recently announced their official timekeeping partnership with the NFL and team-branded products for all 32 league organizations. Rolex is the official partner of so many cultural icons, including tennis, golf, motor sport, equestrianism, and a founding supporter and the official watch of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and exclusive sponsor of the Oscars. Omega is synonymous with James Bond and the official timekeeper of the Olympics. The bet is that these relationships build continued brand awareness and insulation from potential incoming price hikes.
Rolex Reigns
Rolex is considered the crown jewel of Swiss watchmaking. Their brand has been a household name for decades, and they’ve been able to grab an estimated 33 percent of market share through storytelling, positioning, and a strong product offering. They were also utilizing sports marketing well before most brands, targeting high-end sports like golf, tennis, and sailing that align well with their target customer persona.
In 2023, Rolex hit new heights as they saw annual revenue slightly north of $11B, and last year, there was still an uptick in sales despite a slight dip in units sold. The Rolex resale market is starting to cool, although in the last few years, secondhand prices skyrocketed, with watches that aren’t considered rare to sell for anywhere from 4x to 6x retail value. As with many other luxury markets, Rolex profited from consumer confusion and negative speculation during the Covid lockdown. They announced 3 percent price hikes when the original Swiss tariff increase was minimal.
Recently, the brand has come under public controversy for vying for political favors. President Trump was their official guest at the U.S. Open, and some have speculated that this move might have been specifically to gain an import exemption.
Cartier Endures
Cartier has been under the Richemont umbrella since the acquisition in 1993. While specific revenue numbers aren’t available, Cartier drives a significant amount of revenue from all watches sold by its parent company (to the tune of 680,000 units). Their prices have increased roughly 10 percent in response to the tariffs. WatchPro reported, “The retail price of a popular Cartier Santos in steel and gold increased from $8,000 to $8,800. A gold and steel Panthere, previously $10,000, is now $11,000.”
Every luxury company worries about counterfeit items moving throughout the world, tarnishing the brand; Cartier continues to be a popular knock-off. In August, the Indianapolis Border Patrol seized a large shipment of counterfeit watches that bore the Cartier logo. Had these items been real, their estimated total value would have been $4.2M. Although aspirational consumers keep the counterfeit market alive, buying knock-offs fuels organized crime and can even lead to funding terrorist activity.
Patek Philippe Blinks
Patek has increased their prices by roughly 15 percent in response to the tariffs. Their watches are already at the top end of the market, so price hikes shouldn’t affect their luxury buyers. Plenty of rare Pateks are consistently auctioned off at Sotheby’s for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Recently, Patek made a strange misstep. It launched a specialty watch featuring the dial in the iconic Tiffany blue to celebrate 170 years of partnership between the two brands. Plenty of people flooded Tiffany to try and get their hands on it but failed. Patek employees were instructed to guide customers to spend up to $2 to $3 million on other jewelry before granting access to purchase the $50,000+ watch. And even then, there was no guarantee they would get one before inventory was exhausted. One frustrated customer sold his entire Patek collection in protest. While the brand tried taking a page out of Hermes’ scarcity strategy, it failed miserably.
Omega Uncertainty
Last year, Omega saw a slight dip in watches sold after two consecutive years of growth. Now with the recent tariffs, the company’s chief executive has questions around their pricing power and its future revenue implications. Reportedly, their CEO said that if high tariff levels continue, the brand may have to push prices further and move beyond its current $7,500 average selling price. Recently, they’ve increased prices in certain markets, including the U.S., but one of their biggest brand ambassadors is helping the company stay top of mind. Rory McIlroy joined Omega over a decade ago after being poached from Audemars Piguet. His latest championship win (one of six golfers in modern history to have won the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and the Masters Tournament in the same calendar year) is the brand’s bet that sporting an Omega on his wrist gives the brand increased visibility.
Audemars Piguet Raises the Bar
AP may have remained flat in terms of growth year over year, but that’s a much stronger outlook than plenty of other Swiss brands. 2025 marks the brand’s 150th anniversary, and they retain 5 percent market share, which is impressive given their watches are some of the most expensive in the industry. They’re also heading back to Watches and Wonders, the industry’s most notable global conference. They haven’t presented in the last five years. Their coveted Royal Oak model has inspired brands in every country and at every price point to create watches in its likeness. Ilaria Resta leads the brand as its first female CEO and one of the few women leaders in the watch industry.
Looking Ahead
The Swiss government knows tariffs can impact its lucrative, signature businesses, and it has been trying to intervene. In a recent effort to placate the administration, as part of a trade negotiation, Switzerland is offering to help reduce the U.S. trade deficit by increasing its investment in American industries, including gold refining. The president of the Swiss Association of Precious Metals Producers and Traders, Christoph Wild, said, “All our refinery members have mid-term to long-term plans to further invest in the U.S.”
Luxury watch brands will need to get very creative in the coming months. While pricing is one of their top priorities, they’ll still need to keep ahead of their competitors. UK-based Christopher Ward now sells their own version of a Sonnerie au Passage in the Bel Canto model for at least 50 percent less than other complicated brands. Grand Seiko opened its watchmaking studio to the public in 2023, located in the Iwate prefecture of Japan (several hours north of Tokyo). The studio showcases the brand’s accolades and awards, reminding everyone of its success.
To remain competitive, Swiss watchmakers will have to get creative with pricing and maintain focus on creating some of the best watches the market has ever seen. The U.S. market is promising. The top 1 percent of U.S. households represent about 33 percent of the country’s wealth: That’s $49.4 trillion in net worth.
