This past quarter, the biggest news to hit the watch industry was the Morgan Stanley Luxe Consult Ninth Annual Swiss Watcher report, which didn’t paint the most comfortable picture about the growth of the watch industry in the past year. Of the top 50 Swiss watch brands in the report, only 20 showed turnover growth in 2025, though this number would change if one were to take into account the Swatch Group’s open letter that emphasised that Longines’s and Hamilton’s profits did not decline last year. Watch brands are often not transparent about business figures, so it is actually difficult to ascertain what the reality might be. However, the slowdown in the watch industry is real—according to Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, a private, non-profit trade association representing the Swiss watch industry, in 2025, Swiss watch industry exports recorded a decrease of 1.7 per cent compared to 2024.
What does this translate to for India? According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH’s report on the world distribution of Swiss watch exports in 2025, watches worth CHF 296 million were exported to India last year, up from CHF 273.9 million in 2024. This is an increase of 8.1 per cent, third only to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, in a list of 30 countries. India has also moved up a spot to No. 20, compared to last year. Another perspective to note is that compared to 2023, exports to India have grown by 35.2 per cent.
Yes, interest in luxury watches is growing. If you want to see tangible proof, just in the last quarter, five new standalone brand boutiques have opened in the country, as well as an online platform retailing microbrands (P. 28). And even as I type this, TAG Heuer is opening its first standalone boutique in India, and Seiko its 21st outpost. And there are new brands for watch enthusiasts to consider, both local and international.
The January-March quarter is generally a slow one for WatchTime India. It’s just ahead of Watches and Wonders Geneva, the biggest event of the watch industry, so brands generally tend to keep things on the down low in this quarter. This year was, however, a departure from the norm. The boutique openings meant the team was constantly on the move, new launches came in non-stop, we shot a very cool (if I say so myself) video series with Tissot, executed our digital cover with Rado for its True Round x Les Couleurs® Le Corbusier® Special Editions, partnered with Omega on its annual golf tournament, the Zimson Cup, and headed to Geneva to visit a very popular brand’s manufacture (story coming up in the July-September anniversary issue). There’s no rest for the weary, but we’re not complaining.
Images: Courtesy brands
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