How the luxury watch boom has rolled into 2022: timepieces are selling out at Hermès and other brands, while Watches and Wonders returned to Geneva as the pandemic eases

Apr 11 , 2022

In a sign of the robust health of the sector, the booths of many luxury watch manufacturers – including that of Panerai, owned by Richemont group – were busy on the opening day of the Watches and Wonders Geneva show, in Geneva on March 30, 2022. Photo: AFP

Hermès vice-president Guillaume de Seynes saw an increase of 73 per cent in its watch division, while H. Moser & Cie’s 2022 watches sold out in pre-production

Demand outweighed supply for Oris too, causing delays to the release of its latest collection – but now brands have sanctions against Russia to contend with

Times have been so good recently for luxury watchmakers that they are running behind demand, forcing some to delay the release of new collections and others to invest more in production capacity.

Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer Vacheron Constantin’s display on the opening day of the Watches and Wonders Geneva show, on March 30, the first physical show after two years of pandemic-induced virtual shows. Photo: AFP

After the pandemic severely hit the global economy in 2020, the sector enjoyed a spectacular recovery last year and started 2022 with a bang, though Russia’s war in Ukraine created new uncertainties.

Swiss watch designer and manufacturer Rolex’s stand, on the opening day of the Watches and Wonders Geneva show. Photo: AFP

Watches were the best performing segment for French luxury group Hermès last year, with sales soaring by 73 per cent, though items such as the brand’s coveted Birkin bags continue to do well too.

The Hermès booth at the Watches and Wonders exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 30. Photo: Reuters

“We had an extraordinary year in the watches business,” Hermès vice-president Guillaume de Seynes said at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, which took place from March 30 to April 5, one of the industry’s biggest annual showcases.

“We can feel a very strong dynamic for watchmaking everywhere in the world,” he said, adding that there was hot demand for a men’s watch model last year.

“We could have even sold more if we had been able to make more,” de Seynes said, noting that watchmakers face a “demand phenomenon that exceeds production capacity”.

His priority for 2022 is to invest in production.