After positive performance in 2023, the watches industry experienced a turn for the worse in 2024 as exports of Swiss watches declined in key markets. Yet average purchase intent across the 20 brands within the Vogue Business Watches Index is expected to remain stable, with more consumers looking to purchase brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Piaget in the coming year. With an average age of 153 years, the brands in the Index have strong histories of weathering economic headwinds.
In the first edition of the Vogue Business Watches Index, Cartier holds the top spot followed closely by Omega and Rolex. Cartier leads in the digital pillar, while maintaining strong performance across consumer sentiment and innovation. Rolex heads up consumer sentiment with a weaker performance across digital and innovation, as Omega maintains a steady but strong performance in all areas. Longines holds a notable position within the top five. Despite its market share of just 3.4 per cent, the brand outperforms larger rivals Patek Phillippe (5.6 per cent) and Audemars Piguet (4.9 per cent) in terms of digital performance, with stronger consumer confidence compared to Audemars Piguet.
With 20 brands assessed in total, individual performance for the Vogue Business Watches Index is evaluated against 100 data points across consumer sentiment, digital and innovation.
The overall weightings of the assessment categories and their metrics are determined through industry relevance and importance to the consumer, in order to objectively judge a brand’s performance. The final weighting for each category is agreed upon following a review process with our data analysts and expert editors.
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Consumer research is fundamental to the Vogue Business Watches Index, with readers from a number of Condé Nast titles — including Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair and Condé Nast Traveller — participating in a bi-annual luxury consumer sentiment survey that ensures granularity is achieved when it comes to understanding awareness, customer challenges and beliefs about brands.
We’ll continue to innovate our research to develop further studies that provide a deep dive into new categories.
1. Cartier
Cartier is a brand boasting strong scoring across all three pillars assessed, with performance for each sitting at least within the 80th percentile. Leading within the digital pillar, Cartier’s social strategy is driven by its association with film, both through its sponsorship of the Venice Film Festival and its host of ambassadors, which includes Timothée Chalamet among others.
2. Omega
Ranking in second position, Omega does not lead in any of the pillars assessed. Instead, the brand is steady across all three areas, with particular strength in its digital strategy. Omega has mastered a presence at high-ticket events, first on the red carpet in early 2024 and later at the Paris Olympics.
3. Rolex
Rolex is a brand ubiquitous within luxury. Not only did the maison lead in the consumer pillar, it also scored a near 100 per cent in awareness. Rolex is considered iconic, as well as a means to convey an elevated status, with even more consumers expecting to purchase the brand next year than this year. Despite the brand’s lower level of innovation, it scores for product collaboration and pre-owned certification schemes.
4. Longines
Longines holds a robust score in consumer sentiment, where it is fifth for purchase intent. Considering its strong digital ranking, the brand performs particularly well on Chinese social platforms Weibo and Douyin, as well as on Facebook. Despite holding fourth place, its innovation score is the lowest of all 20 Index brands.
5. Chopard
Chopard emerges as a top five player in the digital pillar. As the fourth highest scoring brand on major platforms Instagram and TikTok, Chopard tops the chart for Xiaohongshu. The brand is well considered by consumers for its values and modernity, while scoring positively for its innovations in traceability and endeavours in hospitality.
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