Gen Z collectors and female watch fans have pushed horology to its strongest market in years.
Mechanical watches were supposed to fade once smartphones made checking the time a thumb-swipe away, yet the hard numbers tell a different story. Swiss watch exports climbed from CHF 24.8 billion (about €26.4 billion) in 2022 to a record CHF 26.7 billion (roughly €28.4 billion) in 2023, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. It is the industry’s strongest two-year run in decades, pointing to a rebound with real staying power.
The money is crowding at the very top. Timepieces that retail above €26,600 accounted for 69 percent of 2023 growth and 44 percent of total export value. Even houses once seen as watch outsiders are cashing in: Hermès tripled watch revenue in four years to €611 million in 2023, nudging into Switzerland’s top-20 makers.
Fresh buyers are driving the surge. At Watches & Wonders Geneva, one in four public visitors in 2024 was under 25 and the average attendee was only 35. Retail giant Watches of Switzerland says a “significantly younger cohort” now shops its showcases, while Swatch’s €240 MoonSwatch has sold more than a million units, turning entry-level buzz into long-term collecting.
Vogue Business reports that female and Gen Z clients are the fastest-growing luxury-watch customers; Audemars Piguet aims for women to make up 30 percent of its self-purchasing clientele and tapped Tamara Ralph for a Royal Oak capsule, while Breitling’s Victoria Beckham Chronomat sold out at launch.
Market heft underpins the hype. Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult put Rolex at just over 30 percent of Swiss retail value—dominance echoed on a certified-pre-owned market that analysts expect to expand at double-digit rates through the decade. Digital resale platforms, auction houses and social feeds have turned rare references into headline assets, reinforcing watches as both status and store of value.
At the 2025 Met Gala, timepieces turned up as pendants, monocles and lapel clips. Freed from time-telling duty, today’s watch reads as jewelry, attitude and investment in one polished case—worn on a wrist, a waistcoat or wherever imagination lands. Smartphones didn’t bury horology; they cleared the space for its reinvention.
