Slow economy affects luxury watch brands

Severe declines during the 2008-2009 financial crisis have caused high-end watchmakers to change tactics and expand their range of affordable products.
Demand has slowed in China, the luxury sector’s biggest growth engine, partly due to increasingly sluggish growth and the government’s crackdown on gift-giving among civil servants.
Van Cleef & Arpels, one of the fastest-growing jewelry and watch brands, has felt a slowdown in Hong Kong, Macau and the United States, according to a report published by the Bangkok Post.
A sharp drop in Chinese tourist spending has hit Hong Kong and the United States, two of the world’s biggest luxury markets. The industry’s global growth has slowed since peaking at the end of 2012, leading to job cuts.
Cartier, Richemont’s main source of profit, previously only offered new models in gold and leather, with prices starting at more than USD10,900 (MOP87,500). However, Cartier’s new Drive model, a steel-cased men’s watch, is priced at just around USD5,430 (MOP43,600). Meanwhile, Piaget, whose timepieces start no lower than USD10,900, has launched a women’s line with prices starting at just over USD7,630.
Swiss watch exports dropped 3.3 percent in the 11 months to last November over 2015, after two years of modest growth of close to 2 percent.
With the combined effects of record-low oil prices and signs of economic weakness in China, executives said that the industry has to adapt to a market with fewer Russian, Middle Eastern and Chinese buyers than the previous year. Staff reporter