Will the Watch Community Shrink When We Can Travel Again??
Luxury watch sales have increased as people saved money when no one could travel. With restrictions lifting and the end in sight will the watch community be noticeably quieter in 2023?
Weather it's luxury watch sales or the watch YouTube community, it's pretty undeniable that more folks are into watches.
Overall that's a great thing, except for the price hikes of course. But the watch market won't stay hot forever so will the watch community shrink when people can comfortably travel again?
If so, is this is good thing?
Enthusiast are beginning to loath Instagram and even Rolex due to the flex culture it attracts.
And will second hand and vintage watch prices come down when/if the community shrinks?
Welcome to my WatchCrunch profile.
The flex culture might shift back to exotic travel, but I suspect that people will stay "into" watches for a while yet.
I suspect the end of cheap credit, and general economic conditions will likely have a bigger impact on watches than travel will. It will likely also disproportionately impact average people who buy luxury watches more than the rich.
https://elitetraveler.com/shopping-lifestyle/watches-shopping-lifestyle/how-covid-caused-a-boom-in-the-luxury-watch-industry
Yes and no in my book. I don’t believe the watch community will shrink due to less travel restrictions. I do, however, think it grew during the pandemic. To much sparetime gave us the opportunity to transform an interest into passion. For me it is two universes. The everyday guy will continue to develop their passion with new followers to join. The stratosphere watch market will change, not to removed travel restrictions, but depending on the financial situation. The boom for upper luxuary will take a hard blow. Just my thoughts.
I tend to agree with you. The development in the luxury watch sector existed a few years before Covid. It's an interesting discussion, though, as it impacted manufacturers quite differently. The mid-market was hit by Covid pretty hard, initially. However, the growth was pretty one-sided, if one looks at the Swiss watch market. The 500-3000 CHF category saw an uptick in 2021, but everything below that continued a decline. Everything above that saw continued growth.
Since the upper section of the watch market takes on aspects of an investment market, it would be very hard to predict. In the long term I fear that the watch market will develop similar to cameras. The low end will be decimated by smart phones and smart watches, with only the high-end sector, and offerings for enthusiasts remaining.
frankly speaking, travel and watches are complementary goods. Both are disposable income consumer goods. im looking forward to actually travel to Switzerland or places with Watch Conventions once the world recovers again?!