Swiss watches experience strong exports

First published: 27-06-2011

New figures released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry have suggested that Swiss timepieces are currently in demand.

According to the organisation's findings, exports of these types of watches were up 30 per cent in May 2011, when compared to the same month last year, with CHF1.6 billion (£1.19 billion) being accounted for.

Gold Swiss watches proved particularly appealing during the month, with the number of units exported up over 50 per cent compared to May 2010, as well as having 38 per cent more monetary value.

Meanwhile, an increase of more than 30 per cent was witnessed in the volume of units purchased for steel watches between the two periods, with their value rising by over 29 per cent.

The only blip for Swiss watches came in the form of gold-plated silver devices, which experienced a sharp drop of 74 per cent of total unit sales over the month.

Such figures come soon after Bloomberg reported on how some Swiss-made watch brands, which use resources of other countries, could face trouble for not making their timepieces Swiss enough.