Coronavirus has surpassed all previous crisis’ in terms of its negative impact on the Swiss watchmaking industry, with a 25 per cent downturn anticipated for 2020, according to a report by Bank Vontobel. This is worse than the Quartz Crisis, which saw a 15 per cent decline, and the 22 per cent downturn in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, notes this article in Watchpro. “In terms of volumes, we’re going to fall back to levels seen in 1945, with probably fewer than 16 million watches sold,” said Oliver Müller, the founder of watch industry consulting firm LuxeConsult, in an interview with swissinfo.ch. He went further, saying there would be businesses within the industry that would not survive the crisis. “Between 30 and 60 ‘Swiss Made’ watch brands – of a total 350 – will not survive,” said Müller. “A dozen watchmaking companies have already filed for bankruptcy since the beginning of the crisis.” This paints a grim picture as the Rolex factories and offices remain closed, with Patek Philippe returning to work only recently, and other groups operating in a severely limited capacity. While most, if not all, of the larger brands will survive with their cash reserves, the…
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