What optimism there was around during Watches and Wonders was soon snuffed out by US President Trump’s tariffs announcement.
But, even before that Black Wednesday for global trade, the optimism in the halls was of the variety that the worst of the 2024 slowdown was over and brighter times were ahead.
Not all brands were affected equally last year, and the folks at Rolex, Cartier and Patek Philippe will have been happy enough with their work over the prior 12 months and their market share gains.
And so was the team at Frederique Constant and Alpina because its parent organization, Citizen Watch Company, had just closed its financial year with global watch sales up by 6.6%.
That compares with Swatch Group’s sales decline of 12.2% in FY24, a 13% drop for Richemont’s Specialist Watchmakers and a 3% dip for LVMH’s Watch and Jewelry Group, with jewelry performing significantly better than watches.
Citizen Watch Company, with the mighty Citizen at its heart, not only increased sales by 6.6% in the financial year ended March 2025, it also saw volumes increase by an even higher 11%.
In Switzerland, watchmakers have been on an occasionally interrupted long-term run of rising sales but falling volumes.
The sheer scale of Citizen Watch Company’s global business may be a surprise to many in Switzerland.
Turnover from watches, alone, — excluding machine tools and components — was JP¥ 177 billion for the financial year, which equates to $1.22 billion or CHF 1 billion.
That’s the size of Tudor and TAG Heuer, combined, if Morgan Stanley estimates for 2024 sales are correct.
And Citizen Watch Company is not alone in competing in the global premier league of watchmakers.
As we reported on Monday, Seiko Corporation saw full year sales for the 12 months from April 2024 to March 2025 rise by 11.7% to JP¥ 175.9 billion ($1.22 billion), almost exactly the same turnover as Citizen Watch Company.
International sales for Japanese companies were boosted last year by the increasingly-weak yen, and domestic sales were also strengthened by a surge of incoming tourist shoppers.
The yen has been strengthening since the start of 2025, and this trimmed growth for Citizen to 5.7% from January to March 2025.
The strengthening yen may have been responsible for a decline in domestic sales in the first three months of this year, but it was compensated by rising sales in Europe and continuing strength in North America, Citizen Watch Company says.
European sales in Citizen’s fourth quarter (Jan-Mar) were up by 7%, year-on-year, with the UK and Italy singled out for driving the most growth.
American sales rose by 4% in the same period where sales at jewelry chain stores and department stores remained strong.
Plus Citizen America opened its flagship on New York’s 5th Avenue, presenting all of the group’s brands.
Citizen and Bulova have been relentlessly increasing average transaction values in America and are now 20% higher than in FY21.
This has been achieved by the successful launch of products with higher added value in both the Citizen and Bulova lines, along with price increases, the corporation says.
This march upmarket for Citizen and Bulova will continue, the financial report states. “We will expand sales by continuing to focus on high value-added products priced around 2,000 dollars,” it explains.
And another thing…
One final thought. You might think it unfair to compare the performance of high volume Japanese watchmakers with the venerable maisons of Switzerland.
To that, I would first point out that every brand is competing for the same wrists all over the world.
In the case of Swatch, Tissot and Longines, which generated sales of around $2 billion last year, these are direct competitors to Citizen, Alpina and Frederique Constant.
Swatch sales have been rising on the back of the MoonSwatch success, but Tissot and Longines have been declining.
Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour agrees that the Swiss must be alive to threats from all quarters.
Speaking in the Spring of 2024, he noted: “We must ensure that people continue to wear wristwatches in the future, whether for social reasons or for other motives. The competition for wristwatches is fierce. Fitness trackers, smartwatches, bracelets. I’m always surprised when colleagues of mine say: “People will always wear watches.” It’s not God-given, it’s a fragile industry that we have to take care of,” he warned in an interview with Swiss newspaper NZZ.
And what about smartwatches? Weren’t they supposed to wipe out analogue watches, at least in their sub-$500 price category?
It has not worked out that way.
Citizen Watch Company and Seiko Corporation saw watch sales rise substantially last year while Apple Watch shipments dropped by 19% in 2024, following a 10% dip the year before.