After months of struggle, the Swiss watch market is seeing a bit of relief.
Timepiece exports from the country increased by 3.3 percent in December compared to 2024, according to a new report that the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry released on Thursday. That marks a slight recovery in the sector, as Swiss watch exports have been plummeting for the last four months in the face of U.S. tariffs, Bloomberg reported.
Those levies, originally set at 31 percent and then upped to an eye-watering 39 percent last August, were reduced to just 15 percent in November—a tariff similar to the one placed on the E.U., though still higher than the 2 percent levy formerly placed on Switzerland before the current U.S. trade policies.
Now, Swiss watch exports are seemingly on the up and up, reaching a total of around $2.7 billion (2.1 billion Swiss francs) in December and a total of around $33.4 billion (25.6 billion Swiss francs) for the year, though that marks a 1.7 percent drop compared to 2024. The latest data markets an about-face in an industry that has been plagued by yo-yoing tariffs, sky-high gold prices, and global inflation. Previously, watch exports from Switzerland had declined by 16.4 percent in August and by 3.1 percent in September. October and November also faced woes, with the latter seeing a 7.3 percent drop.
The U.S. market, in particular, saw a 19 percent increase in Swiss watches headed stateside in December, because of companies pushing to send their timepieces to America in the wake of those eased tariffs, according to Bloomberg. France, meanwhile, saw the number of Swiss timepieces heading its way skyrocket by a whopping 50.9 percent. China and Hong Kong had a bit of a decline of 6.8 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Amidst this tumultuous market, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Tudor all raised their prices to kick off 2026. Average prices of timepieces from the Crown (which usually increase watch prices at the top of the year) rose by 7 percent in the U.S., according to data from WatchPro. AP elevated its prices to a similar 7.5 percent, while Tudor hoisted its prices by an average of 5.6 percent.
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