luxury / Watches

This week, President Trump’s tariff on Switzerland went into effect, landing levies of 39 percent on every watch the country exports to the US. For some Swiss watchmakers, the threat is existential.

Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek has front-loaded shipments to the US, is targeting American shoppers as they travel abroad and has raised its prices as it grapples with a new 39 percent US tariff on Swiss-made products.

As the luxury watch sector experiences shifting consumer preferences and market contraction, brands are seeking new paths to relevance and growth. Here, BoF speaks with Benjamin Arabo, chief executive officer of Jacob & Co., to understand how the American company is evolving its efforts to disrupt traditional watchmaking.

The Swiss owner of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and other brands has avoided the luxury slump. Sluggish watch sales and local competition in China threaten to spoil the party.

From Tiffany blue to Barbie pink, distinctive colours are driving consumer interest in a slowing watch market, helping industry giants like Rolex and startups like Norqain alike court new buyers — especially younger collectors and women.

The sector is facing double-digit sales declines and a crisis of relevance. ‘A watch has become a cultural object of sophistication… but culture has to constantly reinvent, otherwise it can disappear,’ said former Cartier boss Cyrille Vigneron.

After three years of declines, prices of pre-owned watches appear to have bottomed out.

A group of investors is reviving has 'resurrected' the Danish watch company Urban Jürgensen, a 250-year-old name revered by connoisseurs but largely unknown outside that bubble.