(europastar.com) - Month after month, the negative figures continue to pour in. In April, Swiss watch exports fell once again, by 11.1% to be precise, compared with April 2015. Since the beginning of the year, the overall decline is edging towards -9.5%. With the notable exception of the USA, which has “climbed” a rather modest 1.2%, all key markets are in decline: China -36%, Hong Kong -17%, Italy -12.3%, Germany -11.1%, Japan -5.8%…. need we go on? And these are just the top six markets. What is even more worrying: this time it’s the top-drawer companies that are taking the hit. “Watches in precious metals were the most strongly affected in April and clearly exerted a downward pull on the overall result,” announced the Fédération Horlogère FH in a press release, noting that the decline in sales of steel watches, “while considerable, was half as significant.” Swiss watchmakers, who have withdrawn in droves to their gilded towers, assuming they are sufficiently insulated from the carnage being dealt out down below, are seeing their model of absolute exclusivity, reserved for the infamous 1% of the world’s richest, dangerously undermined. Whose fault is it?
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