What Are The Top 5 Luxury Watch Brands – The Numbers in Brief
The top ten luxury watch brands are:
Rolex
Cartier
Omega
Audemars Piguet
Patek Philippe
To pinpoint the top 10 luxury watch brands, we didn’t want to just rattle off the names of popular high end watch brands or just select our personal favorites of what we think are the best luxury watch brands. We looked at data to come up with the list, which includes the latest report by Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult on the Swiss watch industry, as well as figures published monthly by the FH. Note that the comprehensive report co-authored by Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult came out in early 2024 and uses 2023 figures. Another factor to keep in mind is that some watch brands are private companies that do not share their financials publically, therefore, some of the data is estimated.
With that in mind, here’s a table of the top ten luxury watch brands according to the 2023 turnover numbers as reported by Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult, which are all in Swiss Francs (CHF) but we used the average 2023 exchange rate (1 CHF = to 1.11 USD) to make it more understandable for our American readers. It’s interesting to note that more than the top 5 watch brands belong to the Billionaire’s Club; in fact, only two haven’t made it yet.
Rolex: The Top Luxury Watch Brand
No surprises here, but the top luxury watch brand in the world, the king of kings, is Rolex— by far. This Swiss watchmaking giant accounts for 30% of the entire Swiss watch market (there are around 300 Swiss watch brands in existence) with an estimated 1.24 million watches sold in 2023 for an estimated sales total of over $11.21 billion. The average retail price for a Rolex watch was calculated at around $13,562.
Those are some impressive numbers in the retail space, and this doesn’t even account for Rolex’s dominance in the secondary market! The brand is known for smash hit watches such as the Day-Date, Datejust, Submariner, Daytona, GMT-Master II, and many others.
Cartier
In second place is Cartier, with about 8% share of the market with sales estimated at $3.44 billion for 2023. It’s estimated that Cartier sold about 660,000 watches in 2023 with an average retail price of around $6,340.
While Cartier experimented with its watch offering in the mid-2000s with ultra-creative designs and super complicated timepieces, the brand returned to its roots in recent years by offering revamped versions of its already iconic watches. These include the Tank, Santos, Panthere, Pasha, Ballon Bleu, and others.
Omega
For many years, Omega occupied the second spot among the world’s top luxury watch brands but has slipped to third place in recent years. The gap between Cartier and Omega is getting larger; Omega is estimated to have achieved $2.89 billion in 2023 sales with 570,000 watches sold for 7% of the market share. It’s estimated that the average Omega watch retailed for $7,296.
Omega’s most famous watches are the Speedmaster and Seamaster in the American market, yet the Constellation is its bread and butter in certain markets.
Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet has been on an absolute tear over the last decade, climbing the charts of the luxury watch world. Although it’s estimated that Audemars Piguet only sold 51,000 watches in 2023, the watchmaker reached around $2.61 billion in sales and 5% of the market share. The average retail price of an Audemars Piguet watch in 2023 was calculated at around $53,786.
The Royal Oak remains the flagship watch collection of Audemars Piguet; there’s also the sportier Royal Oak Offshore and the relatively new Code 11.59, which after a rocky start, is starting to find its footing in AP’s catalog.
Patek Philippe
Numbers aside for a moment, for many watch enthusiasts, Patek Philippe would be their pick for the top luxury watch brand in the world. However, since we’re guided by numbers here, let’s break down Patek’s. In 2023, Patek Philippe sold an estimated 70,000 watches, reached about $2.28 billion in sales, and maintained about 6% market share. The average retail price of a Patek Philippe watch in 2023 was calculated to be around $44,389, which, to my surprise, is almost $10,000 less than AP.
The Nautilus and the Aquanaut sports watch continue to be Patek Philippe’s most hyped-up models, yet, for serious connoisseurs and collectors, it’s the brand’s grand complications that are the most sought-after. Vintage and vintage-inspired pieces with fancy bracelets, such as the Golden Ellipse, are also picking up steam.
