Swiss watchmaking in April 2002

As in March, the value of Swiss watch exports in April 2002 was practically stable compared to April 2001. Total sales by Swiss manufacturers fell by 0.9% to reach a level of 785.9 million francs. Since the start of the year, watchmaking products worth more than 3 billion francs (3.096 billion) have lef Switzerland. This corresponds to a decrease of 4.9% compared to January-April 2001. The rates of variation are negative, but for three months they have been climbing progressively.
ProductsUnitsChange in % 2002/2001 Value in CHF Change in % 2002/2001
Finished watches8,157,924-5.02,796,989,125-3.4
Movements 1,777,376-4.443,354,216 2.9
Cases1,617,21534.915,095,08710.7
Detached parts215,368,807-19.0
Clocks25,107,451-32.6
Total3,095,914,686-4.9

In April 2002, the number of watches exported rose by more than 100,000 units (+5.8%), thanks in particular to steel and plastic timepieces. The last time this happened was July 2001. Their value however fell by 1.4% to a total of 717.4 million francs. Exports of gold watches saw their value fall by 12.1%, while plastic recorded a very strong performance (+11.9%). After four months, steel and platinum watches have contributed most to arresting the declines.
Finished watches by materialsUnitsChange in % 2002/2001Value in CHFChange in % 2002/2001Gold147,193-7.8763,319,249-10.9
Platinum2,682-22.060,322,21715.8
Silver14,3132.09,820,092-9.4
Gold-plated224,2092.549,742,996 -1.7
Steel3,596,6743.91,163,186,0870.8
Gold-steel250,540-3.7488,370,891 -0.1
Others metals 1,107,057-6.275,111,469-17.7
Others2,815,256-14.6187,116,124 -2.4
Total8,157,924-5.02,796,989,125-3.4




Watch exports to Japan rose in April (+3.3% by value), as did those to Great Britain, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. Generally speaking, declines were less numerous than in previous months. Although France overtook Germany in April, the top of the ranking since the start of the year has not changed: Hong Kong (471.6 million, -3.0%), United States (428.2 million, -12.0%), Japan (314.9 million, -5.4%), Italy (241.0 million, -5.3%), and Germany (213.8 million, -3.2%).

Source: Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry
http://www.fhs.ch
May 2002