LVMH enters the $30 billion watch market with a high-end, reinvented approach.

 

In the highly competitive luxury watch world, brands have to constantlnovate with materials, plications and designs to gain share and keep collectors engaged.

A Zenith luxury watch at 2024 Watch Week in Miami. price of watch

Carrera Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde Chronograph Tourbillon at 2024 Watch Week in Miami

TAG Heuer, which has its roots in car racing, scored a huge hit with its Carrera Plasma, using lab-grown diamonds. Its Carrera Plasma Diamant d’Avant-Garde Chronograph Tourbillon is priced at upward of $500,000 — and has a waitlist of more than two years.

Sales of luxury watches worldwide are estimated at about $30 billion this year, according to market research firm IMARC Group. They’re expected to grow to more than $37 billion by 2032, as global wealth increases and Generation Z and millennials become more interested in high-end mechanical watches.

LVMH’s jewelry and watch division posted sales of $11.8 billion in 2023, representing a 7% increase in organic growth. The luxury giant now has 10 watch brands, including TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith, along with fashion and jewelry brands such as Louis Vuitton, Bulgari and Dior thatso make watches.

In the highly competitive luxury watch world, brands have to constantly innovate with materials, complications and designs to gain share and keep collectors engaged.

Last month,

 the company named Frederic Arnault, the 29-year-old son of LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Watches, which includes the TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith brands.

Shares of Watches of Switzerland Group Plc slumped nearly 30 percent after the top seller of Rolex watches in the UK cut its sales and growth forecasts, blaming volatile demand and a shift in luxury spending habits.

Frédéric Arnault Named CEO of LVMH Watches

The newly created role will see the second-youngest son of LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault oversee the conglomerate’s TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith brands.

Analysts estimate sales of those three brands reached about $2 billion last year

of highly popular new models at TAG Heuer, is expected to bring his focus on innovation, cutting-edge materials and creative designs to the larger brand group. Analysts say LVMH may also continue 

the brands’ chief executives said 2024 is already shaping up to be stronger than 2023, when rising interest rates and fears of recession tempered demand. Executives say they are especially encouraged by the resilience of the American luxury consumer.