The digital transformation of watchmaking


Launch of the Luxury Watch Barometer

March 2024


Launch of the Luxury Watch Barometer

Expert Fred Levin (ex-LGI and Troverie) has introduced a new tool for measuring trade flows in the US watchmaking industry. We asked him three questions.

E

uropa Star: What is the idea behind the Luxury Watch Barometer?

Fred Levin: Based on my previous experience, several watch industry executives came to see me to fill a gap: the lack of statistical data on the watch industry in the United States, as several companies have withdrawn from this market. Designed for professionals and available by subscription, our barometer tracks data from strictly specialist retailers, not including department stores, for example.

How many retailers are on your panel?

At present, there are over 400 retailers representing more than 2,000 points of sale and a turnover of some 800 million dollars a year (note that this figure does not include Rolex sales). Unlike previous data, we are assessing the absolute performance of each point of sale, not market share. Another new element is that we are providing information on the ’health’ of the brands: the profit made by retailers, the real gross margin, the discounts applied, in order to be as close as possible to the reality of the market.

Fred Levin
Fred Levin

How do you source the data?

There is a lot of online data on prices from auctions, marketplaces and second-hand models, but we focus strictly on authorised dealers. Either the data is obtained directly from them or from POS data aggregators. Participating retailers pay no subscription fee and receive additional reports, enabling them to compare their situation in relation to the market, average price, productivity, stocks, turnover and gross margin.

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