Luxury watch trends 2025: Potential discontinuations from major brands to aid boom in secondary market
The luxury watch industry in 2025 is navigating a landscape marked by economic fluctuations, evolving consumer tastes, and a heightened emphasis on authentication and transparency.
'While the market has corrected from its 2021-2022 highs, luxury watches remain a strong asset class. The best pieces, particularly those with limited production, historical significance, or unique complications, continue to appreciate,' said Robertino Altieri, CEO of WatchGuys.com, in an exclusive interview with Arabian Business.
Speculation on potential discontinuations from major brands
While no formal announcements have been made, Altieri hinted at ongoing speculation regarding potential model discontinuations by leading brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet. 'Rolex, for instance, has been known to surprise the market by retiring popular models, which often fuels secondary market demand,' he said.
Patek Philippe 'could make adjustments to its Nautilus line, given past moves, and Audemars Piguet continues to evolve beyond the Royal Oak,' he said. Historically, discontinued models have seen immediate spikes in collector interest and resale value.
Material and design trends in 2025
Currently, there are several prevailing product trends:
Materials: 'We are seeing a strong push toward titanium as brands emphasise lightweight yet durable materials,' Altieri explained.
Dial colors: 'Shades of green, salmon, and burgundy remain popular, while icy blue and pastel hues are making a significant impact.'
Case and bracelet innovations: 'Ceramic cases and integrated bracelets are becoming more mainstream.'
Despite a 2.8 per cent decline in Swiss watch exports in 2024, primarily due to decreased demand in China and potential US tariffs, the fair underscored optimism and innovation within the industry.
'Economic conditions play a critical role in shaping luxury watch releases,' Altieri said. He noted a dual-track approach by brands: limited releases targeting high-net-worth individuals and lower-entry models designed to attract new collectors. 'Inflation and fluctuating currencies also mean that price adjustments across key brands are likely.'
Investment perspective on luxury watches
Altieri maintained that luxury watches are still regarded as a solid asset class in 2025. 'While the market has corrected from its 2021-2022 highs, luxury watches remain a strong asset class,' he said.
'The best pieces, particularly those with limited production, historical significance, or unique complications, continue to appreciate.' He advised that investing should be based on long-term intrinsic value, not short-term speculation.
According to industry experts, 'The Rolex Daytona, Patek Philippe Nautilus, and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak continue to be the safest blue-chip investments.' Altieri also pointed to independent brands: 'F.P. Journe and Richard Mille have shown remarkable appreciation due to their exclusivity.'
Additionally, he revealed an increasing interest in vintage models from Cartier and Vacheron Constantin.
The secondary market has normalised since late 2024. Altieri said, 'The secondary market has stabilised after the speculative boom of recent years. Pricing has become more realistic.' He reported an increased demand for vintage and neo-vintage watches from the 1980s and 1990s.
'Transparency and authentication are more critical than ever, with buyers prioritising trusted sellers and platforms,' he added.
According to the findings from Deloitte's Swiss Watch Industry Insights 2024 study, prices on the second-hand market peaked in March 2022, then fell by 16.4 per cent over two years before stabilising in 2024.
The study also revealed that a fifth of consumers planned to buy a second-hand watch in 2024, a proportion that has doubled since 2020.
For new collectors, Altieri recommended focusing on historical and brand significance. 'It's essential to buy watches you genuinely love, rather than solely for investment purposes,' he said.
'Focus on models with historical importance, limited production numbers, and strong brand heritage. Also, purchasing from reputable sources and ensuring proper documentation is more important than ever.'
Emerging brands with growth potential
Altieri identified several brands with potential for future growth:
Tudor: 'Tudor remains undervalued, especially vintage models.'
Breguet and Girard-Perregaux: 'These brands have yet to see the price surges of other high-end brands.'
He also revealed a rising interest in H. Moser & Cie and A. Lange & Söhne, 'particularly for their limited production pieces.'
'Smartwatches have found their niche without significantly cannibalising the luxury market,' Altieri observed. 'They have introduced younger generations to wristwatches, potentially leading them toward mechanical timepieces in the future,' he said.
Evolving sales and marketing strategies
'Brands are increasingly adopting direct-to-consumer models and limiting authorised dealer networks,' Altieri said. He noted the growing presence of boutique exclusives and online sales channels. 'Collaborations with celebrities and athletes remain key marketing strategies.'
He added that blockchain integration for authentication and ownership tracking is 'becoming an industry standard to enhance buyer confidence.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arabian Post
5 hours ago
- Arabian Post
Market turmoil grips Asia after Israel strikes Iran
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Stock markets across Asia plunged as global investors rushed to safe-haven assets following a military strike by Israel on Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile facilities, intensifying geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. U.S. equity futures dropped sharply, while commodity prices surged—fuelled by fears of supply disruption and escalating conflict. Crude oil futures reacted violently, with Brent surging about 9 % to approximately US $75.36 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate climbing to US $74.20, both marking the largest daily gains in months. Goldman strategists and energy analysts attributed the spike to risk premiums linked to potential retaliation and threats to regional infrastructure, especially across the Strait of Hormuz. ADVERTISEMENT Precious metals and defensive currencies were also swept up in the panic. Spot gold rose by around 1.5 % to trade near US $3,434 per ounce, inching closer to its April record peak of US $3,500. The Swiss franc strengthened by roughly 0.4 % to reach two‑month highs against the U.S. dollar, while the yen appreciated by about 0.3 %—classic indicators of risk-off sentiment. Asia's leading equity indices suffered notable losses: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell between 1.2 % and 1.4 %, Seoul's Kospi dropped about 1.1 %, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined roughly 0.8 %. U.S. S&P 500 E‑mini futures and Nasdaq futures plunged between 1.7 % and 1.8 %, while Pan‑European STOXX 50 futures slid around 1.6 %. In India, the Nifty 50 and Sensex tumbled approximately 1.2 %, with the oil and gas sector leading losses thanks to narrower refining margins and soaring crude prices. Stocks of Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil Corporation and HPCL each shed between 3.5 % and 6 %. Airline stocks, already shaken by a recent Air India crash near Ahmedabad, declined further as travel costs and uncertainty weighed heavily. Debt markets saw a flight to quality. U.S. Treasury bonds rallied, pushing the 10‑year yield down to around 4.31–4.35 %, its lowest in a month. Currency markets mirrored these moves: the dollar index rose around 0.5 %, while the euro and sterling retreated slightly. Analysts suggested the next moves hinge on Iran's response. Charu Chanana, chief strategist at Saxo, noted that if tensions ignite, safe-haven demand and commodity volatility will likely persist. Matthew Haupt from Wilson Asset Management described this as a 'classical risk‑off move,' adding that duration and scale of Tehran's likely response will shape market impact. This episode compounds earlier market strains. The global economy already faces headwinds from volatile U.S. trade policy and high inflation, while negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme have stalled. A planned sixth round of talks in Oman was overshadowed as military actions overshadowed diplomacy. Market indicators suggest traders are swiftly reducing risk exposure ahead of the weekend. Tony Sycamore from IG forecast continued selling in equities, saying that prudent investors will likely trim positions until further clarity emerges. Energy market strategists warned of wider contagion. According to Saul Kavonic of MST Marquee, unless Iran specifically targets major oil infrastructure, supply impact remains limited—but persistent unrest could be enough to constrain output and flow through the region.
Dubai Eye
06-06-2025
- Dubai Eye
Swiss National Bank denies currency manipulation after being put on US watch list
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said on Friday it would intervene in foreign currency markets where necessary to keep inflation on track after the US added Switzerland to a list of countries being monitored for unfair currency and trade practices. The SNB denied being a currency manipulator after the publication of the US Treasury Report on Thursday, but said it would continue to act in Switzerland's interests as the strong franc helped push inflation into negative terrain last month. "The SNB does not engage in any manipulation of the Swiss franc," it said. "It does not seek to prevent adjustments in the balance of trade or to gain unfair competitive advantages for the Swiss economy." The SNB said it was in contact with US authorities to explain Switzerland's economic situation and monetary policy, and would continue to use interest rates and forex market interventions if necessary to pursue its inflation target of 0-2 per cent. Swiss inflation hit a four-year low in May, with prices falling by 0.1 per cent. The SNB declined to say whether further talks with the United States were planned, but said its monetary policy was "geared towards the needs of Switzerland". Switzerland met two of the US Treasury's concerns regarding trade flows and its current account, but not on foreign currency interventions. SNB forex exchange purchases in 2024 were "minimal," Treasury said. In 2024, the SNB bought only $1 billion in foreign currencies, equivalent to only 0.1 per cent of Swiss GDP, well below the Treasury's threshold of 2 per cent of economic output. The US has also added Ireland to the list, along with previous countries, including Germany, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, already being monitored at the time of the November report from the Biden administration.
Arabian Post
05-06-2025
- Arabian Post
A sordid tale of the Blackstone IPO and a jailed NRI private bankster!
Matein Khalid I have had a neurological soft corner for Wall Street's alternative asset manager stocks ever since I resisted the come hither importunings of multiple Morgan Stanley (MS) managing directors before the firm sold its private wealth division in the DIFC to Credit Suisse. Everyone of these MS honchos wanted me to subscribe to the Blackstone IPO in the summer of 2007 at $32. They assured me that the biggest institutional investors in the UAE had all subscribed to the IPO and I was even excluded from a dinner with Stephen Schwartzmann, Blacktone's founder and chairman, since I refused to give MS an order for a $50 million IPO bid. By the summer of 2007, I was convinced that the world was headed into a traumatic global recession and even published an article in English which would have saved my fellow Dubai investors billions of dollars had they bothered to read it for free in the Khaleej Times as far back as January 2007. This article accurately predicted the global financial meltdown a year before it happened and is uploaded above. ADVERTISEMENT Naturally, these Morgan Stanley private bankers despite their fancy titles of MD, Imperial Wizards, King of Kings and Chief Concubine were clueless about the nuances of the global capital markets. I have learnt the hard way that the private banking and wealth business in the Middle East is really the blind leading the blind to the slaughterhouse, invariably with high octane leverage and absurdly high fees for the privileges of helping you gut your financial net-worth in the capital markets they barely understand. I sealed my unpopularity with Morgan Stanely's pinstriped bureaucrats in Dubai when I wrote successive articles, listing myriad reasons why I wanted to short both Morgan Stanley and Blackstone at 32. History or a cursory look at your smartphone will record that MS almost failed in the post Lehman Wall Street panic and the Blackstone IPO plunged from 32 to 4. To compound the insult that Dubai's top NRI investors faced as they haemorrhaged money on the advice of the MS clowns, the top Indian broker on the MS bench (Manoj Prasad) was jailed for fraud, money laundering and trying to bribe a CBI officer in India. So much for Wall Street/Swiss due diligence/ethics when it comes time to fleece the leveraged NRI lambs in the Gulf. My readers know I wrote successive columns in the UAE/British media recommending investors buy Blackstone (BX) shares at 10-12 when the distribution yield was 9%. I even recommended in writing to the chairman of the royal investment office where I was CIO not to allocate $25 million to Abraaj Capital for a board seat that meant squat at 3.5X book value when he could invest in Blackstone at $10 a share, way below book value. That $25 million went to money heaven when Abraaj failed in 2018 after Arif Naqvi's criminal fraud. Blackstone shares I recommended rose from $10 in 2010 to as high as $200. So that $25 million in Abraaj's eternal money heaven would be valued at $500 million if my poor chairman who had never heard of Steve Schwarzman but Magu, our Group CFO, a Karachi accountant, was dazzled by the intellectual brilliance of Arif Naqvi, the Gulf media's financier of the millennium. Moral of the story? If you think Wharton is expensive, try ignorance! Blackstone is now the planet's biggest alt asset manager with $1.2 trillion AUM and is valued at $167 billion on the NYSE. I am a nervous long at $136 since I believe the US private credit market will be gutted in a recession that is now inevitable in Q3, the reason why I went long up the wazoo on TLT at 84 as I expect JayPo to capitulate on rate cuts at the September FOMC. I want to exit my BX long via a covered call strategy before July 4th, our Independence Day. I am pretty sure I will be able to buy BX below 100 when the macro wolf finally swallows Grandma Goldilocks. We saw this movie before in the autumn of 2008 ADVERTISEMENT Also published on Medium. Notice an issue? Arabian Post strives to deliver the most accurate and reliable information to its readers. If you believe you have identified an error or inconsistency in this article, please don't hesitate to contact our editorial team at editor[at]thearabianpost[dot]com. We are committed to promptly addressing any concerns and ensuring the highest level of journalistic integrity.
