The Tamesis
Looking ahead to this year’s flagship watch show ‘Watches & Wonders’, the industry appears to be both strong and growing. The 2026 show will be held in Geneva from April 14 to 18 and will feature 55 returning brands, as well as 11 new brands, including Audemars Piguet. The exhibition area has expanded from 77,000 square meters in 2025 to 84,000 square meters this year, providing live performance space for emerging music talents and DJs. Visitor numbers also continue to grow and will increase by 12% year-on-year by 2025, according to Watches & Wonders.
But despite the growing interest, recent export figures released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry paint a different picture. Between 2000 and 2025, total exports halved from 29.7 million units to 14.6 million units, while export values almost tripled during the same period, from CHF 9.3 billion to CHF 24.4 billion ($11.8 billion to $30.9 billion). Growth in the high-end market has consolidated as mid-range and entry-level consumers exit and the industry increasingly relies on high-end watch enthusiasts.
Between 2000 and 2025, the value of the high-end market (watches priced above CHF 3,000, or $3,800+) increased more than sixfold, from CHF 3.1 billion to CHF 19.5 billion ($3.9 billion to $25.7 billion), while sales increased from 488,000 to 1.87 million units. In contrast, sales of entry-level watches (watches priced at CHF 200 or less, or $250) plummeted from 22.8 million to 8.3 million, and their value fell from CHF 1.2 billion to CHF 704 million ($1.5 billion to $892 million). The mid-range segment (watches priced at CHF 200-500, or $250-$650) also shrank, with sales falling from 3.1 million to 1.8 million and value falling from CHF 1 billion to CHF 554 million ($1.3 billion to $701 million).
High-end consumers are smaller and their needs vary from region to region. A study by Deloitte shows that globally, only 5% of consumers are willing to spend 10,000 Swiss francs ($12,600 to $63,300) on a watch, and only 5% are willing to pay more than this threshold – in China, this increases to 20% and 16%, respectively, and in Hong Kong, to 18% for watches costing more than 50,000 Swiss francs.
Against this uneven backdrop, here are the defining characteristics of the watch industry in 2026 and how brands can respond to them.
Accelerating high-end
According to the latest annual Swiss Watcher report from Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult, one of the defining characteristics of the watch industry remains premiumization. Watches priced above CHF 50,000 account for 37% of total exports and will account for 89% of total export growth by 2025, despite accounting for only 1.4% of export volumes. This reinforces the increasing concentration of value at the top end of the watch segment.
