The British watch market limped to annual growth of 4.6% in 2022, despite a sharp slow down in sales growth after the first quarter last year.
Year-on-year comparisons in Q1 2022 were distorted by the second pandemic lock down in the first three months of 2021, but publicly listed bellwethers Watches of Switzerland and Signet Jewelers had shown solid results in 2022, so we can start to say we are looking at a new normal.
What can be said with certainty is that the British market has been sustained by growth at the top end of the market as an 8.3% drop in the volume of watches sold in 2022 was compensated by an identical 8.3% rise in the average price paid per piece.
The total value of sales for watches priced at over £10,000 rose by 9.2% last year, according to retail analyst GfK.
It was far tougher in the midfield where watches priced between £1,000 and £3,000 fell by 22.3% last year.
The same pattern is extending into 2023, with sales of watches in the £1,000 to £3,000 price range falling 13.4%, year-on-year, in January. This contrasts with a 23.3% increase for watches priced at over £10,000.
Interestingly, the high volume sub-£500 segment of the watch market has held up better than the so-called affordable luxury space, with sales flat, year-on-year in 2022, and 4% up in January.
