Tokyo (SCCIJ) – The Swatch Group has declared an end to the Swiss watch industry downturn. The largest Swiss watchmaker said that it had seen “very good growth” during the last two months of 2016 and the start of 2017. Sales in Japan were as well on an upward trend in recent months, the company said in a statement. In mid-November, two of the Swatch Group’s luxury brands, Glashütte Original and Jaquet Droz, opened a shared boutique in the Nicolas G. Hayek Center, a 14–floor retail hub of the group in Tokyo’s Ginza. Actually, Japan has proven to be a resilient market for Swiss watch exports even during the last two difficult years.
Japan exports declined the least
2016 was the worst year for the Swiss watch industry since the start of the global financial crisis. The total value of exports fell by 9.9 percent to CHF 19.405 billion. Compared to 2014, exports decreased by almost 13 percent in two years. This was largely due to weak sales in the top two Swiss watch markets Hong Kong and the United States. Hong Kong exports declined by 25 percent in 2016. Compared to 2014, this meant a drop of 42 percent. The export value to the U.S. shrank by 9 percent in 2016 and by almost 10 percent in comparison to 2014.
Exports to Japan, the fourth largest market for Swiss watches, declined by 3.3 percent in 2016 to CH 1.262 billion and – compared to 2014 – by altogether 5.1 percent. This was the smallest two-year-decline rate among the top four export markets for Swiss watches. Export value to mainland China declined by almost 8 percent from 2014 to 2016. The difference in export value between China and Japan shrank in 2016 to only CHF 31,000. During the first eleven months of 2016, Swiss watch exports to Japan had even overtaken exports to China.
Marc Aellen, Vice President and Head of International Sales at Jaquet Droz, and Christophe Savioz, President and Chief Representative of Swatch Group Japan, cut the red ribbon at the opening ceremony.
New Japan retail outlets for Swiss watches
This caused the New York Times to write: “Once considered Switzerland’s biggest rival in watchmaking, Japan is fast becoming its former foe’s best customer.” This was a reference to the fact that the Swiss mechanical industry had lost 60,000 jobs in the 1970s when Japanese quartz technology conquered the watch world. But today, Japan has become a stable and big market for Swiss watches. According to experts, it has developed from a purely domestic market to a market with a growing share of travel retail business. Foreign tourists are now buying Swiss watches in Japan.
The strength of the Japan market has enticed Swiss watch makers to open new retail outlets. For example, avant-garde watchmaker Richard Mille plans to open two stores in Osaka and Kobe this year. Its first boutique was opened five years ago in Tokyo’s Ginza district. “It’s a very interesting market, but it’s a very demanding market,” Mr. Mille told the New York Times. “The Japanese love technical details, so we had to do a lot of literature to explain the concept of the brand,” he added.
"Marie-Antoinette, a Queen in Versailles" at the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Tokyo still runs until February 26.
Swatch Group expanding in Japan
Also, Swatch Group’s luxury watch brands Jaquet Droz and Glashütte Original opened their newly renovated shared boutique in November in the Nicolas G. Hayek Center. The building completed in 2007 was designed by star architect Shigeru Ban and is located at the heart of Ginza. This high temple of fine watchmaking is home to the Swatch Group and boutiques for Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original & Jaquet Droz, Omega, Longines, Swatch, and an after-sales center that spans three floors. Hydraulic elevators carry customers directly from the ground floor to the respective showrooms of each brand.
Breguet is currently sponsoring an exhibition about “Marie-Antoinette, a Queen in Versailles” at the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Tokyo which still runs until February 26. Breguet had invited 120 distinguished guests to gather at the Résidence de France in Tokyo to celebrate the inauguration of the exhibition. The influence of the queen on creations by the watchmaker was illustrated by pocket watch No. 1160, a reproduction of the celebrated “Marie-Antoinette” ordered for her in 1783, but only completed in 1827. Unfortunately, the queen had been beheaded 34 years earlier.
Text: Martin Fritz for SCCIJ; Photos: Breguet, Jacquet Droz
