Breathing space for the Swiss watch industry?

Breathing space for the Swiss watch industry?

Swiss watch exports returned to positive territory in March, growing by 1.5 percent to CHF 2.13 billion. However, the overall first quarter saw a slightly negative development, declining by 1.1 percent.

Export growth was primarily driven by steel watches, whose exports increased by 5 percent in value terms. Bimetallic watches (+1.1 percent) and precious metal watches (+1.9 percent) also recorded an upswing.

Overall, 55,000 fewer items were exported, mainly due to the sharp decline in the "Other Materials" (-17.8 percent) and "Other Metals" categories (-23.6 percent). This could not be offset by the 4.2 percent increase in the volume of steel watches.

Watches with an export price above CHF 500 recorded an increase of 1.9 percent. This development helped offset the decline in the lower price segments, particularly watches between CHF 200 and 500 (-17.5 percent), which recorded a significant decline.

Exports in March were once again driven by their main market, the USA, which recorded growth of 13.7 percent. Japan (+1.1 %) followed with a more moderate increase, while the UK (+10.6 %) joined the top three with steady growth. Hong Kong (-11.3 %) and China (-11.5 %), however, remained on a downward trend, albeit at a slower pace. Singapore (-1.8 %) also recorded a slight decline during the same period.

In March 2025, exports to Germany grew by an above-average 7.2 percent to CHF 113.5 million compared to the same month last year.

Increased exports to the USA thanks to Trump tariffs?

The magazine fashionunited.de reports, citing analysts, that the extent of export growth to the US suggests that watch manufacturers may have already started increasing shipments to the US, a key market, in order to build up stocks, as the Threats of tariffs were already causing concern before the White House's decision on April 2.

According to a report by fashionunited.de magazine, citing analysts, the extent of export growth to the US suggests that watch manufacturers may have already begun increasing shipments to the key US market to build up inventory there. This was in response to concerns about impending tariffs that had already emerged before the White House's decision on April 2.

In a market commentary, analysts at Jefferies believe that the March figures were “likely boosted by frontloaded shipments to the US in advance of the impending tariffs.”