A little like the wider economy, you could say the watch business in Britain is holding up remarkably well given the global headwinds of inflation, war in Europe and the ongoing choppiness of life after a pandemic.
The total value of sales dipped by 1.2% in September, according to GfK data.
This pegged back growth for the year to September to 6.1%.
While sales slow at retail, product is flooding into the market from Switzerland.
Swiss watch exports grew particularly strongly in September. At CHF 2.2 billion francs, they achieved one of the highest values in their history, thanks to an increase of 19.1% compared with September 2021.
Nine months into the year, exports already stand at 18.1 billion francs, 12.6% higher than last year for the same period.
For the UK, alone, Swiss watch exports to the UK are up by 25% for the first nine months of the year, making the country the fifth largest market in the world after the USA, China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Top end timepieces, costing more than £10,000, are still the strongest performing sector for retail sales in Britain, up 9.5% year-on-year in September, compared to a drop of around 14% in the £1,000 to £5,000 price point.
London outperformed the rest of the UK, suggesting a tourism bump in sales. The capital saw sales rise by 4.7% in September compared to a 3.9% drop for the rest of Britain.
Online watch sales continue to cool, and are now down by 11.4% by value over the past year.
