Swiss watchmaking in January 2017 recorded -10% drop in the UAE.

Watch exports continued to decline during the month of January. They were 6.2% lower with a total value of 1.4 billion francs. The negative trend has flattened out somewhat in the past three months but remains significantly in the red. 

The fall in value was attributable once again to watches in precious metal while steel timepieces confirmed their recovery. However, the trend in volume terms was still downwards. The month of January proved particularly negative for the other metals category. All the price segments posted a fall; this was more substantial for the lower ranges. 

Watches priced at over 3000 francs (export price) were the least affected, contrary to the situation in 2016. Their value was down by 4.2%.  Overall sales in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are down 10.1%, 28.0% and 12.8% and Qatar recorded a rise of 39.2%.