2018 Swiss watch market share

So no surprises here, Rolex leads the market share equation significantly followed a fair way behind by Omega and Longines in third place. When non-watch people think about luxury watches, Rolex immediately springs to mind above all others.

The holy trinity of haute horlogerie is Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe yet we see Vacheron Constantin and Audermars Piguet with market shares of 1.9 and 4.0 respectively. Clearly prestige doesn't necessarily translate into sales.

Rolex dwarfs the market share of both Vacheron Constantin and the marketing departments need to lift their game. Whilst they might be bestowed with the title of haute horlogerie, they still have to sell timepieces in a competitive marketplace.

What surprises me is that Cartier has dropped behind Patek Philippe as this brand was sitting equal or slightly above Omega in sales in previous years. Cartier branded stores sell luxury items to a high-end and loyal customer base. Longines is a solid mid-tier brand that sells well for the Swatch Group and is well marketed.

TAG Heuer sits well back at 3.9% with LVMH group brand Hublot with 2.5% market share and stablemate Zenith with not enough market share to register. Entry-level Swatch Group brand Tissot holds a surprising 4.1 market share, one would expect an entry- level brand to hold a more dominant position.