The average price paid for a watch in Great Britain rose by over 31% in September compared to the same month in 2016.
All luxury watch brands have increased prices more than once over the past 12 months in an effort to minimise the price advantage enjoyed by Britain since the Brexit vote crashed the pound in June last year.
However, those price rises alone do not account for a 31% rise in average transaction values. The rise has to also be fed by customers choosing more expensive models in recent months than they bought during the corresponding period a year ago.
Harrods told WatchPro in August that it had noticed a particular rise in watches selling at prices above £200,000 this summer, although the partial closure of its Fine Watch Room is certain to have affected volumes in September.
Great Britain is continuing to behave as two markets: inside the M25 and outside it. GfK sales data for September recorded sales values rising by 28.1% in London and a more modest increase of 7% for the remainder of Great Britain.
The luxury and mass market for watches are also running at dramatically different speeds. The value of sales for watches priced above £1000 rose by 28% in September, compared to the same month in 2016. The value of sales for watches priced at under £500 declined by around 9%.
Online retail, which is grabbing more and more of the sub-£500 watch market, saw the value of sales rise by 8.5% despite the volume of watches sold declining by 2%, suggesting people are prepared to pay a little more for watches online than a year ago.
