Swiss watch brands making time for India

Swiss watchmakers are increasingly turning their sights towards India thanks to a new free trade agreement that is due to gradually open the doors for luxury timepiece exports.

While some brands are already in the starting blocks, others are waiting to see whether India will become a new land of plenty.

“India represents enormous potential,” Yves Bugmann, president of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, told AFP at Watches and Wonders, the Geneva watch fair that closed on Monday.

Despite its 1.4 billion population, India was in 22nd place for Swiss watch exports in 2023, just ahead of Switzerland’s Alpine neighbour Austria.

The value of Swiss watch exports to India was just 218.8 million Swiss francs (€225 million) – way behind front runners the United States (4.2 billion francs), mainland China (2.8 billion francs) and Hong Kong (2.4 billion francs).

High taxes have long discouraged watch brands, particularly the most expensive labels.

Although the calculation is complex, it includes customs duties of around 20 per cent for watches, a goods and services tax of 18 per cent, plus an additional surcharge.

But last month, after 16 years of negotiations, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein – signed a free trade agreement that will reduce customs duties “progressively over a period of seven years”, Bugmann explained. “It’s an extremely interesting market, but will this be the new El Dorado of the watch industry? We don’t know yet,” he admitted.

In a study published in midOctober, the audit firm Deloitte estimated that Swiss watch exports to India could exceed 400 million francs by 2028.

And it could climb into the top 10 export markets within a decade thanks to its ultra-high net-worth individuals, as well as its growing middle class. (AFP)