Sales of LVMH’s Hublot, Bulgari watches top pre-pandemic levels

Zurich Jan. 25 (BUS): Luxury watch brands LVMH Hublot and Bulgari lifted sales above 2019 levels last year, and further growth is expected this year due to strong demand in the United States, company executives told Reuters a week ago LVMH Watch which kicks off. on Monday.

Hublot and Bulgari, along with fellow LVMH stables Zenith and TAG Heuer, are holding LVMH Watch Week online, with digital presentations of their latest collections.

Hublot is showing an ultra-thin version of its Big Bang watch, while Italian jewelry company Bulgari has Serpenti Misteriosi watches hidden in snake-like bracelets and rings.

Serpenti watches, which can cost up to 240,000 euros ($271,464) for the most expensive models, are powered by Piccolissimo’s new miniature mechanical movement, according to Reuters.

Sales of luxury Swiss watches fell sharply in 2020, when the pandemic closed stores and curbed tourism. But it rebounded last year, with Swiss watch exports slightly above 2019 levels at the end of November, thanks to strong demand in the United States and China.

Swiss watches are scheduled to be exported for the full year on January 27, the same day luxury goods group LVMH announces full-year results.

“2021 was a good year, we did better than 2019,” Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe said in an interview Monday, citing 30% sales growth in the United States and “excellent numbers” in mainland China.

“Obviously we won’t see the same strong recovery between 2021 and 2022, but we think we will have solid growth.”

He also said that tourist shoppers remain largely absent and that supply chain issues, mainly due to workers with the Omicron variant, have caused production delays that we hope will be resolved by summer.

Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin told Reuters that the brand performed better last year than it did in the pre-pandemic 2019 period thanks to market share gains.

“We want to continue this positive trend in 2022,” he said, adding that new yellow gold models will help entice American consumers who like this type of gold, while Asians tend to prefer rose gold.

“The US became our second largest market last year and it has one of the best growth rates right now,” Babin said.

Kering, the other large French luxury goods group that rivals LVMH, said on Monday it was selling its Swiss watch brands Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin.

HF