HH Magazine de la Haute Horlogerie - 18 April 2012 Quentin Simonet
Watchmaking has entered a new era. In an ever more global economy, the industry now counts in billions. Gone are the picture-postcard images of watchmakers in farmhouses nestled deep in a Swiss valley, lit only by candle as they toil at their bench, crafting one or two timepieces a year. Today, watchmaking is lining up the zeros in a segment that continues to grow.
The only way is up
After exporting CHF 19.2 billion worth of timepieces last year, the branch must now prepare to enter a new dimension. Indeed, fifteen years from now it could well be looking at sales of CHF 40 billion. An estimate based not on some obscure algorithm but straight from the mouth of Jean-Claude Biver, chairman of Hublot. A two, three, four, even tenfold increase in sales: with close to 40 years in the business, this marketing wizard knows the branch inside out. (...)
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