Ticking up: Hublot CEO on India’s growing appetite for luxury watches
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Luxury watchmakers are keeping a close eye on India as demand for premium timepieces rises, with several global watch company heads doing the rounds of the country in the past year or so. From Panerai to Rado to Hublot, India is becoming the new playground for luxury brands, driven by a rising class of affluent consumers.
The latest to touchdown in India is Julien Tornare, chief executive of watch brand Hublot. “India is clearly growing. There’s a bigger appetite for luxury, and the country is moving in the right direction for us," Tornare said.
To be sure, Swiss watch imports into the country grew by 25% in 2024, according to data from Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, reflecting a growing market where exclusivity is driving spending. Import value of Swiss watches value soared from CHF 218.8 million in 2023 to approximately CHF 273.9 million in 2024. With business slowing down in China—a key market for Hublot over the past two decades—the company is turning to emerging markets such as Korea, India, and Latin America.
“Business is down in China, but it still has a very big appetite for luxury consumption, so it should rise back up. But we also need to compensate with other markets elsewhere," he said, adding that the brand recently opened its second boutique in Bengaluru, after Mumbai, and plans to open a third in Delhi. Also read | Rolex to Hublot: Indians find more time for Swiss luxury A 2024 Morgan Stanley report estimated that Hublot had about 1.5% share of the global watch industry’s sales in the top 20 brands in 2023.
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