Overall, yearly Swiss watch exports fell 1.7% by value in 2025 to about CHF 24.4 billion from the year before, while volumes dropped 4.8% to about 14.6 million units. That’s the second year in a row of export declines, after the post-pandemic boom period saw demand and export values soar to record levels in 2022 and 2023. The figures show that the industry, comprising hundreds of brands and component suppliers, employs some 65,000 people and is under significant pressure. The U.S. market remained surprisingly resilient, with exports slipping just 0.5% by value in 2025 despite higher costs being passed on to consumers and retailers facing reduced margins from some brands.
Analysts say the data underscores a bifurcation in the market separating high-end, low-volume production watchmakers from mainstream, generalist brands with more approachable prices. Excluding watches costing CHF 20,000 or more, Swiss bank Vontobel estimates that Swiss exports fell in value by about 7% overall in 2025 and 15% on a two-year basis, when excluding the ultra-high end. A handful of luxury names and iconic brands, such as Rolex and Cartier, are propping up the aggregate figures, Vontobel says in the report.
“This gap illustrates the devastating impact on a wide swathe of brands and suppliers, many of whom continue to communicate that business is fine,” Jean-Philippe Bertschy, the head of Swiss Equity Research and a managing director at Vontobel, says in the report published Thursday.
“This divergence has material consequences for the industrial base in the Jura and surrounding regions. Many component makers, assemblers, and small subcontractors are exposed primarily to brands in the CHF 200–3,000 range, where volumes and order books have come under disproportionate pressure,” the analyst adds.
Andy Hoffman
2026-01-29 15:04:00