Latest news with #H.Moser&Cie
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Swiss Watch Exports Surged in April, as the Threat of Higher U.S. Tariffs Loom
Ahead of President Trump's looming tariffs on Switzerland, watchmakers and retailers alike are clamoring to get their hands on timepieces. 1.3 million Swiss watches left the European country in April, totaling $3 billion (2.5 billion Swiss francs). That's an 18 percent increase from the same time last year, according to the Federation of Swiss Watch Industry's latest data, Bloomberg reported. More from Robb Report Meet the Texas Distilleries Working to Show the Effects of Climate on Whiskey Flavor Sara Gilbert Puts Her Modern L.A. Farmhouse Back on the Market for $10 Million H. Moser & Cie. Teams Up With Alpine Motorsports on New Race-Inspired Streamliner Watches The U.S. was the main driver of the surge, making up 33 percent of the market. Exports stateside skyrocketed 149 percent year-over-year to hit a total of $851.9 million—a figure that's equivalent to around a fifth of 2024's total exports to the United States. In particular, timepieces made from precious metals, steel, and bimetallic materials, saw the biggest increases. The drastic jump seen in April is the 'result of early shipments prompted by the announcement of U.S. tariffs,' Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at investment firm Vontobel, told Bloomberg. The hike is likely a direct response to the tariffs and not indicative of an increase demand, he said. As we mentioned, Trump announced a 10 percent tariff on Swiss imports back in April. Since then, he has discussed adding an additional 31 percent levy if a trade deal isn't struck by July 9; that deadline, however, could be pushed back to a later time, according to Bloomberg. As for the rest of the world, it didn't see a similar surge. Removing the U.S. from the equation, Swiss exports fell 6.4 percent across the globe in April. The Asian market struggled: China had one of the larger drops, with a 30 percent decrease, while Singapore and Hong Kong saw exports drop 9 percent and 23 percent, respectively. The U.K., Japan, and France, meanwhile, saw only single-digit growth, according to WWD. The U.S. tariffs could affect more than just Swiss watches. The levies would impact luxury automakers, too, though they will not apply to cars over 25 years old. The American wine industry, meanwhile, could suffer in the face of any sort of trade war—which could lead to a massive boom on the secondary market. With the Swiss watch industry, though, we'll just have to wait and see how things shake out. Best of Robb Report The 25 Greatest Independent Watchmakers in the World The 10 Most Expensive Watches Sold at Auction in the 21st Century (So Far) 11 Stunning Jewelry Moments From the 2020 Oscars Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Pre-Owned Watch Sales Spiked by 160% in April Ahead of Trump's Potential Tariffs
Pre-owned Rolexes, Patek Philippes, and more watches were flying off the market last month. In the wake of President Trump's potential tariffs, which were announced in early April, watch collectors responded by snapping up pre-owned timepieces on the secondary market, Bloomberg reported. More from Robb Report Meet the Texas Distilleries Working to Show the Effects of Climate on Whiskey Flavor Sara Gilbert Puts Her Modern L.A. Farmhouse Back on the Market for $10 Million H. Moser & Cie. Teams Up With Alpine Motorsports on New Race-Inspired Streamliner Watches Subdial—a watch dealer and trading platform—usually sees a rush of purchases once payday comes around at the month's end. This time, though, was a little bit different: The site saw its sales jump a whopping 160 percent higher than normal levels, towering over the typical payday increase of 112 percent of other months this year. The U.S. and the U.K. in particular saw an abundance of growth, Christy Davis, Subdial's founder, told Bloomberg. A similar response to the administration's potential tariffs can be seen in Swiss watch exports, too. Last month, watchmakers and retailers across the world were clamoring to get their hands on timepieces from Switzerland before the levies began. As a result, 1.3 million watches—totaling $3 billion—left the European country in April, an 18 percent increase from the same time last year. The U.S., once again, had a strong reaction to Trump's announcement, with stateside exports skyrocketing a whopping 149 percent during the month. The hike is likely a direct response to the tariffs and not indicative of an increase demand, Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at investment firm Vontobel, told Bloomberg at the time. As for the rest of world, watch exports actually dropped by 6.4 percent in April. This latest pre-owned Rollie hot streak comes after reports that the demand for gold Rolexes on the secondary market is on the rise, with a trio of timepieces from the brand jumping the most spots on Bloomberg's Subdial Watch Index since its inception. The prices of pre-owned Rolexes, as well as Patek Philippes, fell to a three-year low in 2024 after ballooning during the pandemic lockdowns. Through May, Bloomberg's Subdial Watch Index has risen about 5.3 percent, similar to what the market looked like last October, according to the publication. How the secondary market will respond to more levies is an open question. In the meantime, watch obsessives are sure to stay tuned. Best of Robb Report The 25 Greatest Independent Watchmakers in the World The 10 Most Expensive Watches Sold at Auction in the 21st Century (So Far) 11 Stunning Jewelry Moments From the 2020 Oscars Click here to read the full article.
Stuff.tv
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Stuff.tv
H. Moser & Cie made fun of the Apple Watch – now it's built its own
Back in 2019, H. Moser & Cie. raised eyebrows with a cheeky idea: make a mechanical watch that looked like an Apple Watch. That piece, called the Swiss Alp Watch, is well worth checking out if you're a smartwatch fan. It was as much a parody as it was a protest – a reminder that a ticking, handcrafted watches could still hold their own in a world of black screens and constant notifications. But today, the brand isn't joking anymore… With its new Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition, Moser has gone from mocking the smartwatch to building one of its own. This is a high-end, feature-packed, digital tool, built in partnership with Alpine Motorsports and designed specifically for the demands of the Formula 1 team. The world of car-watch tie-ins is full of branding exercises. A carbon fibre dial here, a racing stripe there. Job done. But the partnership between H. Moser & Cie. and Alpine goes well beyond the usual badge-swapping. The two brands started working together in 2024, aiming to do something meaningful – to make watches that serve a purpose within Alpine's F1 and Endurance racing teams. And that's exactly what they've done here. They've released a pair of watches under the Streamliner banner: one mechanical, one digital. The first – the Streamliner Alpine Drivers Edition – is a bold, skeletonised flyback chronograph built for the wrists of Alpine's race drivers (Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto). The second – the Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition – is a fully connected hybrid smartwatch, designed for the mechanics and crew who keep the show running. Streamliner Alpine Drivers Edition Let's start with the mechanical one. The Streamliner Alpine Drivers Edition is powered by a skeletonised version of the AgenGraphe movement – a top-tier chronograph calibre developed with Agenhor. It's a sleek machine, built around legibility and racing functionality. Gone are the traditional sub-dials. Instead, it uses a central display for minutes and seconds, with a flyback function for instant resets – a must in motorsport. Visually, it's like a stripped-down single-seater: V-shaped bridges hint at F1 suspension arms, the central bridge mimics a helmet, and the rotor is shaped like an Alpine wheel rim. The 42.3 mm case is crafted from blue PVD steel and topped by a slightly domed sapphire crystal. It's an ode to performance, yes, but with the stripped-back Streamliner elegance that's become Moser's signature. Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition But it's the Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition that's the real leap. It's an actual smartwatch, akin to a Withings or Pininfarina. A proper tool for Alpine's engineers, designed from the ground up with their input. It runs on a connected platform built by Sequent and connects to your phone via Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3. It has a discreet black screen that lights up with race-critical information, and includes a unique 'Race Mode' activated by a Sync button. That mode brings up team-specific messages, countdowns to race starts, and alerts tied to the F1 calendar. There's also a GMT function with a country selector, a split-seconds chronograph, and a perpetual calendar. The battery lasts up to a year in time-only mode, or six Grand Prix weekends when fully lit and connected. So there are no overnight charging rituals here. The Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition is compatible with both iOS and Android. Despite all the tech, Moser has kept the brand's visual DNA alive. There's a small domed Funky Blue fumé dial with hands and indices, giving it that classic Moser feel. It's part digital instrument, part luxury watch – entirely new territory. Availability The two watches come packaged as a set – only 200 of them will be sold together, in a proper collector's case, priced at $70,000 (approx. £52,000). But the Mechanics Edition will also be available separately to owners of Moser's previous Alpine-themed tourbillons, limited to 500 pieces, showing this isn't just a one-time experiment. Moser calls it 'an opening chapter', and while there's no word yet on whether the Mechanics Edition will ever be offered to the wider public, it shows what's possible when a traditional watchmaker embraces tech. Liked this? Omega boss teases new Swatch collab, but who's getting the MoonSwatch treatment next?
Business of Fashion
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Can Swiss Watches Compete on Value?
With the price of gold soaring, the Swiss franc still trading high and US tariffs looming, luxury watch companies are facing a growing problem: Watch prices keep rising. That consumers have become more price sensitive and value conscious amid a downturn in overall luxury spending and growing competition from rival luxury categories only compounds the issue. Can luxury watches still compete? 'People want to get something for their money,' said Karine Szegedi, a partner at Deloitte and author of its annual Swiss Watch Industry Insights reports. 'They don't only buy a watch because it's luxury: it has to be priced at the right level. Pricing has gone up so far, so what's the right price now?' The question is vexing brands, too. 'In more than 20 years in this industry, I've never experienced something like this,' said Edouard Meylan, chief executive of the independent watchmaker H. Moser & Cie, which has annual revenues of around 100 million Swiss francs, according to estimates by Morgan Stanley. 'Setting the right price has become more and more challenging. We believe in pricing that reflects the real value of what we create, not the noise around it.' If one thing seems certain, it's that buyers are buying fewer new watches. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FHS), export volumes continue to tumble, down 5.8 percent year-on-year to the end of March, following a slump of 9.4 percent last year. Over the past decade, total volumes have almost halved, decreasing from 28.1 million units in 2015 to 15.3 million last year. 'Consumers today are demonstrating a more value-conscious approach,' said Yves Bugmann, president of the FHS. 'The current environment reflects a more cautious and discerning mindset.' Since the launch of Apple's Watch a decade ago, luxury watch brands have aimed to create clean air between them and the smartwatch market. Today, while some direct-to-consumer microbrands sell mechanical watches marketed as accessible luxury for under $1,000, Swiss-made mid-market luxury mechanicals typically now start at around $2,000, with prices rising quickly from there. Brands are about to find out just how much price elasticity there is in their products. With gold prices hitting $3,500 an ounce in mid-May, a rise of around 40 percent in 12 months, and tariffs of 31 percent on Swiss watch exports to the US set to take effect from July 1, brands have already started pushing prices up. Independent research has shown that average prices of Swiss watches available online in the US spiked in April. Watches priced over $100,000 were most impacted, rising on average 17.5 percent, according to the Geneva-based agency Digital Luxury Group. The group's research showed price increases became more marginal the lower the price segment, with watches costing less than $10,000 increasing only 4.2 percent on average. But few watches in this price bracket contain gold. One watch retailer suggested that this trend was temporary, though, and that price increases would soon level out. 'Recent years have seen extraordinary trends of price increases, which has adversely impacted volumes,' said Brian Duffy, chief executive of Watches of Switzerland Group, which operates a network of watch stores across the US and UK and last week reported revenues for its most recent financial year of £1.65 billion, an 8 percent year-on-year increase. 'We believe that this period is largely over.' Even then, brands have been left battling to shore up their value propositions. Many have settled on a path to the low-volume, high-value category, where it's thought consumer price sensitivity is lower. According to Bugmann, export figures suggest this might be a smart play. 'Despite prevailing economic headwinds, demand among affluent consumers remains comparatively robust,' he said. 'In 2024, the segment of watches with an export price above 3,000 Swiss francs recorded a slight increase of 1.0 percent, further underscoring the sustained strength of this market tier.' One critic said brands had only themselves to blame for their current predicament. 'Brands are caught in an economic trap, exacerbated by their own short-term thinking during the pandemic,' said Chris Hall, author of a weekly watch industry newsletter called The Fourth Wheel. 'When demand was running out of control, they hiked prices just because they could. Now, having budgeted for a 'new normal' that could never have been sustained, they have been hit by more legitimate reasons to raise prices: the cost of raw materials, currency fluctuations, tariffs and so on. So customers have seen watches that are completely or substantially unchanged rise more than 40 percent in some cases.' Many brands are resorting to smaller watches or more affordable materials so they can offer watches at prices that appear to offer a stronger value proposition. In April, Rolex introduced a new line called Land-Dweller with a new-generation time-and-date movement and a mix of steel and white gold in its case and bracelet that it calls Rolesor. The two materials are all but indistinguishable, but the 36mm watch retails from $14,450, considerably less than the $40,200 list price of the solid gold version of Rolex's Day-Date 36. 'Brands are responding to value and affordability issues through product innovation and increasing focus on value through a move to steel from gold, and simpler functionality,' said Duffy. Also in April, TAG Heuer reintroduced the Formula 1, a collection of colourful 38mm watches based on a design that helped grow the brand in the mid-1980s after Heuer was acquired by the Saudi group Techniques d'Avant Garde and renamed. The contemporary collection starts from $1,800 with a watch with a solar-powered movement and a case made of a bio-polymer the brand is calling TH-Polylight. 'Value doesn't mean a cheap watch,' said Nicholas Biebuyck, TAG Heuer's Heritage Director. 'The case material in the Formula 1 is a robust material tested in our laboratory, the movement has 10 months of autonomy and long service intervals, and the watch comes with five years of warranty. This is something of great quality.' Some brands, including TAG Heuer, have been criticised for investing heavily in marketing. Antoine Pin, the company's chief executive, told The Business of Fashion earlier this year the brand spent almost 20 percent of its revenues on marketing. TAG Heuer is part of LVMH, which is spending a reported $1 billion over 10 years on a Formula 1 sponsorship deal that has made TAG Heuer the sport's official timekeeper. But Biebuyck is unrepentant. 'I've lost count of the number of disruptors in this industry who sell watches for under $1,000 and don't advertise or sponsor,' he said. 'Either they die a death very quickly, or they end up going down the traditional marketing route and putting stickers on a rally car or something, because you have to elevate the prestige of your brand in the mind of the consumer.' Some Swiss watch brands are betting big on value. Oris, an independent company that sells 40,000 watches a year with an average retail price of around 2,100 Swiss francs, according to Morgan Stanley estimates, introduced a steel sports watch with a mechanical movement called the Big Crown Pointer Date last month, priced from $2,300. 'We have tried to bring watches that are more at the entry-level of what we do and make sure we have a very attractive and interesting offer there,' said Rolf Studer, the company's co-chief executive, noting that in some countries the strength of the Swiss franc accounted for as much as two thirds of recent price rises. 'It is a problem for our industry that our currency keeps getting stronger, and it's a problem for the middle class and entry-level luxury buyer, because an offering that was in reach only a short time ago may have gotten out of reach.' Duffy recognised the sentiment. 'Luxury watches are a low-frequency category and we experienced some purchase deferrals, impacted by high price increases,' he said. 'But we have seen a normalisation of consumer behaviour in 2025 and consumer sentiment towards the luxury watch category remains strong.' Others said they expected volumes to remain low and that this would heat up the battle. 'We are past the period of absolute expansion in luxury,' said Biebuyck. 'Gone are the days when people wanted 50, 100 watches; now they want 10 or 20 great watches. And that means brands are now fighting for dollars and having to take clients from competitors. It's tooth and nail out there.' While global economic and political uncertainty persists, few expected the value challenge would ease off. 'In the current economic context, marked by fluctuating exchange rates, increased tariffs and rising raw material costs, it is likely that some watch companies will need to further adjust their pricing strategies in order to protect margins,' said Bugmann.
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Saquon Barkley steals the spotlight at the Met Gala 2025, but it's his $82K watch that gets all the attention
Saquon Barkley's $82K watch at the Met Gala steals the spotlight (Image via: Getty Images) Barkley's whopping $82,000 watch takes over the Met Gala 2025 Fans reactions to Barkley's Met Gala look When sports stars step onto the red carpet at the 2025 Met Gala , all eyes are on them. But when Saquon Barkley showed up at the 2025 event wearing an $82,000 watch, the focus quickly shifted from fashion to controversy. The Philadelphia Eagles running back, one of the NFL's biggest names, was dressed to impress but his extravagant choice sparked plenty of debate. In a time when athletes are under the microscope for flaunting their wealth, Barkley's bold accessory had people talking long after the a sleek Thom Browne suit with a traditional black tie, Barkley exuded elegance. But it wasn't his tailored threads that had social media buzzing, it was the jaw-dropping H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Vantablack adorning his wrist. Retailing for a staggering $82,000, the ultra-exclusive watch features an alligator leather strap, a black Vantablack dial, and a sophisticated HMC 805 calibre movement. It's luxury in every some, Barkley's look was the embodiment of power and style. Others, however, saw it as a tone-deaf flex amid ongoing conversations about athlete wealth and community responsibility. While H. Moser & Cie's president called Barkley 'a gem of a human' and future Hall of Famer, not everyone echoed the on Instagram called the look 'That watch crazy,' and 'bro got the swag and style,' but critics weren't far behind. The duality of reactions underscores a growing divide in how NFL stars are viewed outside the wasn't alone. Fellow Eagles star Jalen Hurts made waves in a sparkly suit and a bold Navitimer watch, while Lewis Hamilton and Savannah James commanded attention in their own designer statements. The theme of the evening, 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,' was meant to spotlight Black excellence in fashion. But for some, the night's biggest takeaway became the elite price Read: Detroit Lions cut Za'Darius Smith, now risk derailing Super Bowl run without veteran edge help Barkley's Met Gala moment was unforgettable, but it leaves us wondering if it was a celebration of Black style and success or just an over-the-top display. What athletes wear today says a lot about who they are and what they stand for.
