Metallic Watch Sales Soaring

The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FHS) has revealed a rise in demand for bi-metallic watches following a sharp increase in export sales. The FHS stated that along with the persistent rise in demand for gold timepieces, bi-metallic watches are showing the same trend. Demand has heightened the overall performance of the Swiss watch exports, increasing 16% by the end of 2011. The trend for bi-metallic watches is also on the increase in the UK. WatchPro has been talking to a number of Swiss watch retailers and brands in the UK to find out how the sales of multi-metal timepieces have done and the news supports the latest export figures. The most popular styles at Citizen have been two-tone watches with a blending of steel and rose gold plate. While there has been a rise in bi-metallic sales, it has been hard to pin this to a particular brand, rose gold appears to be the metal of choice, matched with steel or yellow gold.

Advertising promotions such as that for Longines’ Dolce Vita steel and rose gold watch featuring actress Kate Winslet have also brought attention to the bi-colored timepieces, pushing them back into the mainstream. Women seem to be the dominating consumer of the bi-metallic watches, perhaps due to the accessibility of wearing both gold and steel at the same time, making the watch easier to match with other jewelry.