Watch brands proliferate globally while public attention on timepieces has surged. Technical records for accuracy, thinness and complexity are frequently attempted. Many new high-end watchmakers debut continually, raising ambition and elevating price points into seven-figure territory. Swiss watch exports by unit have fallen from nearly 30 million in 2000 to 15.3 million recently, while market value climbed from about $12.4 billion to $30.7 billion. The decline in units reflects a drop in low-priced watches under $620 export value, not established luxury names. True complexity and innovation remain scarce and highly contested at the top end.
"You've probably never seen more watch brands on the planet than there are right now," says Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange & Söhne. "I also believe that watches have never received more attention from more people around the globe." The boss of Germany's preeminent watchmaker - and one of the best respected on the planet - knows what he's talking about. Today, records are frequently broken, be they for accuracy, thickness, or outright complexity, and new master craftsmen and craftswomen debut high-end brands almost every week.
It might surprise you, therefore, to learn that there are in fact far fewer watches around than there used to be. In the year 2000, Switzerland exported nearly 30 million of the little tickers; last year the figure was just 15.3 million. But the missing 15 million watches aren't Rolexes or Breguets, or Tudors and Longines. They're watches with an export value of less than $620 (which would equate to a retail price of closer to $1,300).
Collection
[
|
...
]