US Watch and Jewelry Sales: The Recovery Goes On

(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US showed further signs of recovery in December 2023, with the largest monthly rise since July 2022.

Major brands have been faring better during the final quarter of 2023 with Richemont enjoying a 12 per cent revenue hike among its watch and jewelry maisons and LVMH reporting sales up by 3 per cent. The latest available figures show that Swiss watch exports hit their "highest-ever monthly level" in November.

Watch and jewelry sales had been in long-term decline for at least 18 months, with 13 consecutive months of decreased sales. But November finally saw sales turn a corner with a rise of 3.1 per cent, followed by a 5.6 per increase in December, according to the US Department of Commerce.

Figures for November have been revised downwards slightly (from +3.2 per cent to +3.1 per cent) based on actual rather than estimated sales. Sales during October were a little better than first reported, a drop of just 0.1 per cent rather than 0.2 per cent.

Jewelry sales rose by 5.7 per cent and watch sales were up 5.0 per cent during November, an average increase of 5.6 per cent.

Annual watch and jewelry sales for 2023 were down 2.2 per cent on the previous year at $96.8bn. Sales leapt during Covid-hit 2021 after almost a decade when they hovered around the $68bn mark. Average sales for the last three years have been over $96bn.

As the graph below shows, sales increased by almost 38 per cent in 2021. They hit a high in 2022, rising by a further 5.1 per cent but fell back a little, 2.2 per cent, in 2023.