A Resilient Luxury Watch Community Faces Down the Economy
The struggling world economy has been hard on luxury brands, and watches are no exception. In a recent interview with Newsweek, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, a top executive with Chopard, commented that no one in government is going to offer the luxury watch industry a bailout, like they have with the auto and banking industries. While wearing a luxury watch is certainly not a necessity, any major breakdown of Switzerland’s leading industry would have a certain impact on the economy. 
About thirty years ago, the sudden availability of cheap imitation luxury watches imported from Asia, posed a threat to the staying power of luxury Swiss chronograph timepieces. But throughout the eighties and nineties, Switzerland battled its way back into the hearts of luxury watch lovers worldwide. The “luxury generation” and healthy world economies helped this industry enormously, but the recent economic downturn poses a much more substantial threat.
The survival of high-priced luxury watches is also threatened by a demographic trend that has evolved over the past twenty years. Many people have started to collect men’s and women’s watches for all variety of activities, instead of one seeking one premium luxury watch to be worn for life.
In response to this- as well as the economic downturn – some companies, such as TAG Heuer, have introduced less expensive versions of their popular favorites, making the brands more accessible to a larger audience. Rolex is another large-volume watchmaker threatened by the global economic crisis. They have recently launched a more commercially accessible collection called DateJust. This new line is a more contemporary and marketable version of the classic Rolex.
Despite the sense of world economic gloom that remains throughout the Swiss watch making community, there is also a renewed sense of excitement about the possibilities of expanding to reach new customer bases while riding out the crisis. It may be true that no one absolutely needs a luxury watch, particularly during an economic crisis, but because these watches still symbolize the hope of perfection; they will continue to thrive among people who feed on this dream.
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