In this weeks edition of Timepiece Digest I will be your personal accountant into the world of watches. Which brands are making the most money and who’s losing out? Grab a coffee, take a seat and get ready to find out the truth about how the watch market is stacking up at the moment.
The Major ownership groups (Data from 2024)
1. Rolex Group
Ownership: Privately held by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation
Key Brands: Rolex, Tudor
Estimated Market Share: 32%
2. Compagnie Financière Richemont SA
Ownership: Publicly traded; controlled by the Rupert family
Key Brands:
Jewellery Maisons: Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati
Specialist Watchmakers: A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin
Estimated Market Share: ~ 20%
3. The Swatch Group Ltd.
Ownership: Publicly traded
Key Brands: Omega, Longines, Tissot, Breguet, Blancpain, Rado, Hamilton, Mido, Certina, Glashütte Original, Harry Winston, Jaquet Droz, Swatch
Estimated Market Share: Approximately 18%
4. Patek Philippe SA
Ownership: Privately held by the Stern family
Key Brand: Patek Philippe
Estimated Market Share: 6.5%
5. Audemars Piguet Holding SA
Ownership: Privately held by the Audemars and Piguet families
Key Brand: Audemars Piguet
Estimated Market Share: 4.9%
6. Richard Mille
Ownership: Privately held
Key Brand: Richard Mille
Estimated Market Share: 3.1%
7. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
Ownership: Publicly traded; majority owned by the Arnault family
Key Brands: TAG Heuer, Hublot, Zenith, Bulgari
Estimated Market Share: Just under 6%
These 7 biggest ownership groups make up around 90% of the watch industry, by revenue. Now digging into the individual brands, you guessed it…Rolex is at the top with a 32% selling 1,176,000 units in 2024 alone amassing a revenue of $11.6B dollars which is a ~5% increase from 2023.
In second, which not all of you may have guessed, is Cartier, who have an 8% market share and sold 680,000 units in 2024 generating $2.6B dollars in revenue, which is a ~0.5% increase from 2023. In a close 3rd is omega who only just got overtaken by Cartier in last year as Omega had a $300M dollar drop in revenue from 2023-2024.
Below is the full table of the top 10 brands by revenue.
Some key takeaways are as follows:
Rolex continues to dominate the market, increasing its revenue from $10.1B in 2022 to $11.6B in 2024, despite a slight decrease in units sold, indicating a focus on higher-value models.
Cartier has shown consistent growth, with revenues rising from $2.4B in 2022 to $2.7B in 2024, solidifying its position as a leading brand under Richemont.
Omega experienced a dip in 2024, with revenues decreasing from $2.9B in 2023 to $2.6B, and units sold dropping to 505,000.
Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe both saw steady growth, with Patek Philippe increasing its revenue to $2.5B in 2024 and units sold to 72,000.
Richard Mille maintained strong performance with $1.7B in revenue in 2024, despite selling only 5,700 units, highlighting its ultra-luxury positioning.
Longines and Tissot faced challenges, with Longines' revenue declining to $1.0B in 2024, and Tissot maintaining steady revenue but facing market pressures.
TAG Heuer and Vacheron Constantin held their positions in the top 10, with Vacheron Constantin's revenue at $1.0B in 2024, despite a decrease in units sold to 31,000.
Ranking of the Top 20 Swiss watch brands by sales since 2017
Let me know which Brands shocked you the most and if there’s any you expected to be at the top that weren’t!
