German jewellery and watch industry picks up significantly in the 1st quarter

The German Jewelry and Watch Association (BVSU) has announced imports and exports of jewelry and watches for Q1 2025. These figures paint a positive picture. However, some of this is due to the high gold price.

Left: Jewelry and jewelry retailers at a booth at Gemworld Munich 2024. © The Munich Show

Who would have thought? News about the luxury goods industry currently tends to raise concerns. China is faltering as a sales market, US trade policy seems to be changing course every day, and a glance into the luxury boutiques in German cities all too often reveals a worrying lack of visitors.

The statistics from the Federal Association of Jewelry, Watch, Silverware and Related Industries (BVSU) for the first quarter of 2025 are a real blessing. Compared to the previous year, they present an almost uniformly positive picture.

Small fly in the ointment: Part of the results can be attributed to the high price of gold. One ounce of gold currently costs €2,933.20. In May of last year, the average price was €2,174.54. In January 2024, an ounce of gold cost an average of €1,864.12, and in December, €2,517.23. Since the beginning of the current year, the price of gold has also risen by approximately another 17 percent.

Industry and trade are growing

In the Jewelry industry Product exports in the first quarter of 2025 showed a significant increase compared to the same period of the previous year. At €1.609 billion, they rose by 26.3 percent compared to the comparable figures for 2024 (€1.274 billion).

After a strong January 2025, the figures jumped again in February and March. Looking at March alone, exports rose by 2.4 percent compared to the previous month, and by as much as 51.2 percent compared to March of the previous year.

Both Watches and watch parts A clear upward trend can also be seen quarterly. In the first quarter of 2025, products worth €466.3 million were exported, an increase of 11.5 percent over the previous year (€418.2 billion).

All three months of the reporting period contributed equally to this turnaround. In March 2025, exports were one percent higher than the previous month, and compared to March 2024, the figures were up 8.6 percent.

Inconsistent picture when importing

The picture is mixed when it comes to imports of finished goods and supply products. Jewelry imports amounted to €1.573 billion in the first quarter of 2024. This represents an increase of 58.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

It should be noted, however, that the first quarter of 2024 saw a historically low result, making it difficult to compare with other quarters. Sales of watches and watch components declined by 2.3 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year, totaling €576.1 million. This represents the second consecutive decline in the first quarter of any year.

A quick look at the jewelry and watch retail sector in Germany confirms the predominantly positive picture. While January and March were strong months compared to the previous year, February 2025 was slightly weaker.

Trade fairs have a positive impact

The particularly good figures in March indicate that business at the spring trade fairs was also better than in the poor previous year.

"Overall, the figures show a more consistent development than in the previous year, with strong fluctuations between the individual months of the first quarter reflecting an increasingly widespread unrest in the industry," says Guido Grohmann, assessing the results.

"The tense political and economic situation worldwide has by no means improved, but the industry appears to be better able to handle the situation than it was at the beginning of 2024."

Guido Grohmann, BVSU Managing Director