Since I began this blog, a number of my posts have
focused on luxury, wristwatch limited editions with prices way beyond what the
majority of us could ever afford. Now
it’s time to explore the size and reach of the global finished- products watchmaking
industry.
In his Publisher’s Letter for
June 2014, Glen B. Bowen, publisher of Watch[Journal] provides an excellent capsule overview of the industry in
2013. These highlights, many of them
drawn from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry(FH),are revelatory. They include:
- Over a billion watches were produced last year giving one to every 7thperson on earth.
- 30 million of these were exports that came from Swiss watch companies.
- Look to Asia as the global behemoth from the numbers standpoint. It exported 30 times the number coming from Switzerland.
- But, when it comes to geographically-centered selling price points, a Swiss watch averages $700 whereby a Chinese watch averages $3. That’s over a 230% differential that allows the Swiss watch industry to account for more than 50% of the value in the global market.
- When it comes to Swiss export market strength, Asia was the leader buying 53% of the Swiss exports; followed by Europe with 31%; then America with 14%; and finally Africa and Oceania each with 1%.
If you devour statistics, you can find a more
detailed summary of the highlights above at Statistics Brain which also includes
the watch market leaders by sales revenue; the largest global watch manufactures;
watch sales by type (i.e. mechanical or electric); and the countries which are
the largest buyers of watches by purchased value.
The watch industry is fascinating and so when you
gaze at your dial, you are participating in an industry whose international
community unites us all.
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