Swiss Watch Exports Strong In September 2008

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Swiss watch exports experienced a notable degree of growth in the month of September.  Spurred most strongly by plated watches in the lower price segment and precious metal watches in the high end, Swiss timepieces saw an increase of 15.1 percent, reaching a figure of 1.5 billion Swiss Francs with 310,000 units exported.

The low and high points of the price scale saw the most dynamic increases, with timepieces under 200 Swiss Francs realizing growth of more than 20 percent and those with a price of 3,000 Swiss Francs or greater attaining +28.2 percent--the highest value increase.  Swiss watches between 500 and 3,000 Francs posted a slight decrease.

The strongest market growth for September 2008 was in China, whose value went up 47.2 percent.  While below average, the United States showed improvement over the three previous months.  The three primary European markets were very close, and basically in alignment with the sector average.  The downward trend shown by the Japanese market also slowed in September.