Then, a 40-year-old Delhi-based luxury watch connoisseur recently acquired his first Ludovic Ballouard watch. The Geneva-based independent watch company is a brand very few in the world know about, as most of its watches start at a steep price tag of $70,000 ( ₹60 lakh) apiece. The buyer customised the piece for himself and etched the dates of birth of his two children, ultimately shelling out ₹1.6 crore for the watch.
This rising interest reflects in the country’s import numbers. In the first 11 months of 2024, India imported 250 million Swiss Franc or CHF (or ₹2,360 crore) worth watches, growing 27.6% over the same period in 2023. In fact, 2024’s 11-month number is higher than that of the entire 2023, which saw imports of ₹2,093 crore, per data from Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, a non-profit, private trade association that represents the Swiss watch industry.
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The data said in the month of November, the US grew as a market at 4.7% and was the only one of the top 10 markets to post a year-on-year (y-o-y) increase. Markets like Japan, Hong Kong, the UK, Singapore, UAE and China saw varying degrees of y-o-y decline from -2.to the steepest decline of 27% in the case of China.
On the other hand, markets like India, South Korea and Spain achieved positive growth, with India leading the pack at 60% y-o-y growth in November followed by South Korea at 21.7% and Spain at 33.5%. Each of these markets continued to build on their successes of previous months, said the data.
To be sure, the top country by value for Swiss watch imports is the US, which imported 4 billion CHF worth watches in the first 11 months of 2024. China was second, with imports of 1.9 billion CHF worth Swiss watches in the same period.
Segment wise growth
Experts say this growth could be indicative of a mixed picture in consumption and may not necessarily be driven by pureplay luxury demand.
While the value of the domestic high-end watch market is growing on the back of high price-point watches, the volumes are coming from ₹50,000-3 lakh priced watches, according to Raahuul Kapoor, founding partner of Delhi-based consultant, Luxury Ampersand Frolics.
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He added that some of the growth could also be coming from the import of ‘demo pieces’—used and pre-owned watches that are brought into India to potentially make their way to other countries.
Kapoor pointed out that the value of imported watches has sharply increased in the very-high priced segment. “For example, in 2014, the most expensive watch imported was priced at ₹42 lakh, with very few units in that price range,” he said. “Today, as many as 50-odd watches priced over ₹1-2 crore must be imported each year.”
Micro-brands also flooding the Indian market
Till some years ago, many companies focused on retailing more mainstream, easy-to-retail brands such as Rolex, according to Kapoor, but as the market has evolved, independent brands such as Laurent Ferrier, Purnell, Harry Winston, etc. have become sought after. “This is helping grow the entire luxury watch business in India,” he said.
Nitin Chainani, a Delhi-based bespoke timepiece advisor, said his company has now turned its focus more towards independent watch making brands rather than large-ticket group brands because collectors are asking for more unique pieces.
“Many collectors have moved on from the Rolex, Cartier and Omega trend since they’ve already acquired most of those in their collection,” he said. Chainani works with Swiss brands like Cyrus watches and Reservoir, among others, which typically fall in the price range of ₹5-20 lakh per piece.
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The most popular price category of watches— ₹50,000 to ₹3 lakh—is driving the volumes in the business, for instance, Charriol, SevenFriday etc. SevenFriday was a brand that Kapoor’s company had first brought to India in 2014.
“A lot of the buyers of luxury watches in India are now looking for ‘legacy’ watches. These come with a heritage and a providence that goes beyond just a brand name; the actual value in the piece comes from the craftsmanship such as brands like those made by Ludovic Ballouard or GOS Watches Sweden,” Kapoor of Ampersand Frolics added. Next, the company will also bring in two new luxury brands to India.
An uncertain future?
Ashok Goel runs Delhi-based Luxury Time Pvt. Ltd, a distributor of brands such as Hublot, Tag Heuer, and Zenith. He said that Tag Heuer saw growth, while Hublot was stable, and Zenith showed degrowth.
“Swiss exports to India are showing world-beating growth in percentages, but the industry is puzzled as to where these numbers are coming from,” he said. “On the ground, these numbers do not tally with the actual sales. While our overall growth value is high, the per-unit growth compared to the same period last year is in low-single digits.”
Goel said that 2024 saw some reduction after the high-consumption years post-pandemic. He also expressed concern over the possibility of the GST rate being revised upwards for luxury watches, which could create a position of uncertainty.
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Consultant Chainani said that overall, the business is similar to last year because in the middle of the year, there were concerns about a potential hike of GST from 18% to 28% on luxury goods including watches. “Further increasing this tax would hamper the industry a lot. But at the same time, India and Switzerland have signed an EFTA to phase out import tariffs on Swiss watches from 22% to 0%, so hopefully things should stabilise,” Chainani said.
Earlier this year, watch retailer Ethos Limited, in its second quarter report ended September, told shareholders that the first half of FY25 was marred by several challenges, starting with the extreme heatwaves that led to more customers spending time outside of India.
The general election resulted in slower cash movements and heavy rainfall in certain areas with fewer walk-ins, it said. There were also very few auspicious wedding dates in the first half of the year, which was a key challenge.
“But despite these, our share of luxury and high luxury watches for H1 FY25 stood at an all-time high,” the statement noted. “We are optimistic about the third quarter which includes major festive events and an increase in weddings. Traditionally, this period brings a surge in consumer spendings and early signs are already encouraging. In October we had a record month with a 47% year-on-year growth.”
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