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Are Luxury Watches Going to be Redefined?


By: Soumya Jain

The world is ever-changing with trends, new products and new technology. Are traditional mechanical luxury watches also going to be redefined with the times?

It is quite a pertinent question about the future of luxury watches. Are they going to survive the onslaught of smartwatches? Apart from that, with sales of luxury watches seeing volatile shifts in multiple markets, does the industry need a shake-up in terms of design and materials? These are just some questions I ask around as an industry-outsider.



  • With the proliferation of smartwatches in the market, a watch started becoming more than just an accessory for the wealthy diaspora. Smartwatches control our calls, calendar, our heartbeat and our footsteps. No mechanical watch can claim to be so useful. Indeed, multiple traditional luxury watch brands have dipped their hands into smartwatches, releasing models which are quite a crossover offering the look of traditional luxury watches with the facilities of smartwatches. A prime example is Frederique Constant. So, what is the future of luxury watches? Are millennials and generation Z going to give as much respect to the old guns?



  • After going through a slump for the past three years, exports from Swiss luxury watch brands are finally on an uptick, especially in US and China. But with many predicting another recession, is it going to continue? That brings me to the next question – with so many luxury watch brands available in the market, each better than the previous one, how are they going to manage costs amid possibly slowing sales (due to myriad reasons) and fierce competition? I often think synthetic diamonds could be one way to lower costs, while giving the same quality and a breather to our beloved Earth. But of course, this will also entail marketing spend to make synthetic diamonds acceptable in the eyes of the rich. For those who don’t know, synthetic diamonds are essentially man-made lab diamonds offering the same (or sometimes even better) quality as natural diamonds. While they have been widely accepted for industrial purposes, synthetic diamonds are yet to see much traction for retail sales.

Like I said, these are some naïve questions of a wandering mind.

Soumya Jain is the Chief Editor & CEO of LuxuryFacts.com – the first and only luxury blog and magazine in India. She is also the Co-Editor of ‘The Luxury Market in India: Maharajas to Masses’, published by Palgrave Macmillan and launched in September 2012. The book is a window into the highly complex Indian luxury market. Soumya is also a visiting lecturer for luxury marketing and online journalism at leading educational institutes in India. She has been invited to speak at conferences and address industry colleagues about the Indian luxury market. Recognising her knowledge of the market, she has been quoted by media such as Fast Company, Wall Street Journal & Financial Times among others, while also contributing articles on luxury in various publications.

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