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March 26, 2018

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Swiss watcmakers see China driving sales growth

Source: Agencies | 00:01 UTC+8 March 26, 2018 | Print Edition

SWISS watchmakers expect further sales growth this year, driven by demand from China where a younger generation of shoppers discovers its appetite for watches, executives said.

“The recovery is there,” Jean-Claude Biver, head of French luxury giant LVMH’s watch business, said in an interview at the Baselworld trade show.

“Maybe it’s not quite as powerful as it seems but China is the driving force.”

Swiss watch exports, the industry's best measure for market growth, rose 12.8 percent in the first two months of the year, with Hong Kong and Chinese mainland both rising around 30 percent.

That followed a recovery in 2017 as a whole when exports added 2.7 percent — the first rise after two years of declines.

Luxury firms from handbag makers to fashion labels are tapping into demand from a new generation of Chinese middle class spenders for branded goods.

Biver said younger Chinese were now taking an interest in Swiss timepieces, often preferring wacky and striking designs or sporty models, to the small, discreet watches their parents favored, and benefiting LVMH brands like Hublot for instance.

“Hublot only entered the Chinese market a few years ago, but in January and February, China was its No. 1 market,” Biver said, adding he expected Hublot and LVMH stablemates TAG Heuer and Zenith to outperform overall market growth this year, helped by improvements in Europe and the United States too.

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