*** Size of Global Luxury Watch Market & Pre-Owned Market**
Luxury Watches have evolved as the new object of desire.
*2021 sales of new luxury watches reached a record €52bn. ( 6% growth)
2021 sales of pre-owned watches is €25–€30bn. ( 9% growth)
source :
*Ticket Size of the Luxury Watch
The luxury watch is priced significantly higher than THE top-end of a smart watch and they do not compete for the same customers that a smart watch maker targets.
Apple tried to get smart watch into luxury segment by tying up with Hermes but that failed.
These are 2019 prices , the retail prices on an average increase 5-7% every year.
*Pricing Power of a Luxury Watch
interesting to note that while the unit of Swiss watches produced declines or remains flat every year the overall market value of Swiss watch exports keeps increasing every year without a single year of de-growth since 2011 - this is testimony to the pricing power of a luxury watch.
source : Morgan Stanley's Report: Top 10 Watch Brands By Revenue In 2022 -
*Who Buys These
In addition to the traditional buyer persona who is above 40 years of age, the growth is driven by Generation Z and millennials who are collectors and re-sellers.
The credit for this humongous appetite globally in small measures goes to the whole ecosystem of Instagram, Tik-Tok and YouTube videos investment and resale opportunities.
The focus amongst most of the social media content around luxury watches focusses on the same Top -10 brands - which helps build brand awareness and puts the digital pre-owned marketplaces on steroids.
*Size of Swiss Watch Exports to Countries
India remains amongst one of the most promising markets for luxury watches while factoring in the size of the Labour pool , GDP and capital market.
the wealth effect judged for India in terms of being in Top-5 with respect to Equity Market Cap ( as of Jun’23) is ranked number #23 in terms of Swiss Watch imports
( source : FH - Watch industry statistics )
It could be argued that buyers of luxury watches do prefer purchases abroad - however one should note that pricing and the collection available in India is the same as elsewhere if not better.
*Market Share of Ethos & Growth Projections
In India they have 15-17% market share of the luxury watch market
- Growth Rate of luxury watches in India is ~10%
- Management Guidance for Ethos growth is ~20-25%
- Management Guidance for Ethos EBITDA margin is ~14%
( source: Ethos: Biz Outlook | What Led To The Decline In Margins | Yashovardhan Saboo Explains | ET Now - YouTube )
*Similar examples of Business Models in Develop Countries
Luxury watch retailing and reselling is an established business model -
- Watches of Switzerland Group ( WOSG)
with 2400 employees, it generates 65% revenues from uK and 35% revenues from US and has see 17% cagr in revenue growth to GBP1.24BN ( INR 13000 CR - at constant currency)
source : https://www.thewosgroupplc.com/media/tlthxed4/watches-of-switzerland-group-plc-annual-report-2022.pdf
- Luxury Bazaar
unlisted promoter ( Roman Sharf) driven company that with just 40 employees and fuelled by digital marketing campaigns on youtube and tik-tok does about $130m revenues ( INR 1000 cr). This business is not strictly comparable as its focussed on the pre-owned and collectible segment specifically but brings home the point that global brands are in play in pre-owned markets and lot of the business can be driven on the back of great digital marketing content with 40k youtube subscribers. Luxury Bazaar - YouTube