The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.

Friday, 27th November 2009 (2105 views)

Makers of luxury gold watches should turn even more exclusive in a bit to survive the recession, according to one expert.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has revealed that Swiss exports of high-end gold timepieces are down by 26 per cent worldwide compared to last year.

Reacting to this, Thomas Mao, founder of ThePuristS - a website for watch enthusiasts, says that the way to ensure the best future of the luxury watch industry is by making the merchandise yet more elite.

Matthias Schuler, chief executive of Roger Dubuis, agrees. He tells the paper that he has dealt with requests from watch retailers in north Africa, France and Scandinavia, who are all hoping to acquire limited edition $246,000 (£149,161) timepieces made by Excalibur.

Luxury watch demand has declined by 42 per cent in the United States and by 59 per cent in Russia in the last year.

Some manufactures such as Glasshute Original are already unveiling glimpses of next year's collections that will be displayed at luxury watch exhibition Baselworld 2010.

 

« Back to Gold News stories