The Watch Market Split in Two: a Record $235M Auction Season While the Retailers Concede a Slowdown

July 5: The Watch Market Split in Two: a Record $235M Auction Season While the Retailers Concede a Slowdown
This week, the watch market told the whole story of luxury in miniature: Phillips posted the biggest watch-auction season in history at about 235 million dollars, even as Watches of Switzerland, one of the largest sellers of Rolex in the world, walked back its growth targets and admitted the market had cooled. The rare and collectible are winning while the mass retail end softens. Plus a former Audemars Piguet chief launches a brand of his own, and a rare crocodile Birkin reminds everyone that the Hermès handbag is still the hardest currency in fashion.

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The Split in Watches
- Phillips closed a spring season that brought in about 235 million dollars, the highest total for a watch-auction season in the history of the category, with records across vintage and independent watchmakers.
- At the same time, Watches of Switzerland scrapped its target to more than double sales by 2028 and conceded the market had cooled. The collectible end is booming while the new-watch retail end slows, the same divergence we track across all of luxury, playing out inside a single category.

The Industry Remakes Itself
- François-Henri Bennahmias, the former chief executive of Audemars Piguet, launched his own Swiss brand, N3W5, set to debut at Dubai Watch Week next year.
- Swatch Group, the parent of Omega and Tissot, is seeking about 170 million dollars from Samsung over copied watch-face designs.
- Cartier announced a new prize for emerging watchmaking talent, and London Watch Week returned for a strong second edition. The industry is investing in craft and the next generation, not retreating.

Jewelry and the Hardest Bag in Fashion
- Christie's set records in its Paris handbag sale, led by rare exotic-skin Hermès pieces including a crocodile Birkin, a bag that has outpaced many stock indices over the past decade.
- Messika unveiled a one-of-a-kind necklace built around a 20.46-carat blue diamond from Botswana.
- Fred, the LVMH-owned jeweler, marked its 90th anniversary with a 101-carat yellow diamond, the Soleil d'Or, a stone so significant it returns to the house's private vaults rather than being sold.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Open Bid — every weekday evening, the day's read on the luxury and collectibles markets
- The Wealth Signal — the weekly newsletter on LinkedIn (Sharon Obuobi)

Creators and Guests

Host

Sharon Obuobi

What is Luxury Spending — Global Trends in Jewelry, Gems, Watches & Handbags?

Luxury Spending is your weekly read on where the money goes at the top of the market. Every Wednesday, host Sharon Obuobi tracks high-end jewelry, gemstones, watches, and handbags — the record auction results, how the big brands are performing, what diamond and gemstone prices are doing, and the retail and consumer shifts behind it all — backed by proprietary data from ALT/FNDATA. For collectors, buyers, and anyone watching the business of luxury.

Learn more at www.altfndata.com.

LUXURY SPENDING — Weekend Edition, Sunday, July 5, 2026

[INTRO]

Good morning, I'm Sharon Obuobi, and this is the weekend edition Luxury Spending for July 4th from ALT/FNDATA. We’ll take a weekly read on where the money is going in watches, jewelry and handbags.

This week.. the watch auction market has just posted the biggest season in its history, even as the watch retailers on the high street concede a slowdown. A former titan of the industry launches a brand of his own. And a single handbag reminds us that the Hermès Birkin is still the hardest currency in fashion.

This episode of Luxury Spending is brought to you by ALT/FNDATA, the market intelligence platform for the luxury markets. With a membership, you unlock the dashboards, reports and proprietary data behind the trends we track. Learn more at altfndata.com/membership.

[THE SPLIT IN WATCHES]

We begin with watches, because they tell this week's story in miniature. Phillips, the auction house that has become the dominant force in collectible timepieces, closed out a spring season that brought in about 235 million dollars, the highest total for a watch auction season in the history of the category. Sit with that for a moment. At the very moment that the headlines are full of a luxury slowdown, the collectors bidding on the rarest vintage and independent watches spent more than they ever have.

Now hold that against the other side of the same industry. Watches of Switzerland, one of the largest sellers of Rolex in the world, spent the week walking away from its own growth target, scrapping a goal to more than double sales by 2028 and admitting the market had cooled. So there it is, the divergence we track across all of luxury, playing out inside a single product category. The shops that sell new watches at scale are trimming their forecasts, while the auction rooms that sell the rare ones are breaking records. The watch itself is not losing its appeal. The question is only who is buying, and what they are buying it for.

[THE INDUSTRY REMAKES ITSELF]

It was also a week of real movement inside the watch business, most of it pointing toward the independent and the founder-led. François-Henri Bennahmias, the former chief executive of Audemars Piguet, who spent two decades turning that house into one of the most powerful names in watchmaking, launched a Swiss brand of his own, called N3W5, which he plans to debut at Dubai Watch Week next year.

There was friction too. Swatch Group, the Swiss conglomerate behind Omega and Tissot, is seeking about 170 million dollars from Samsung, accusing the technology giant of copying its watch-face designs for smartwatches, a case that speaks to how valuable the look of a traditional watch has become in the digital age.

And, the industry kept investing in its future, with Cartier announcing a new prize for emerging watchmaking talent, and London Watch Week returning for a strong second edition.

[JEWELRY AND THE HARDEST BAG IN FASHION]

Moving from the wrist to the jewelry box, the top of the market looked just as firm. At Christie's, an online sale of handbags in Paris set records, led by exotic-skin Hermès pieces, including a rare crocodile Birkin, the bag that has quietly become one of the best-performing assets in all of luxury, outpacing many stock indices over the past decade.

In high jewelry, the house Messika unveiled a one-of-a-kind necklace built around a 20.46-carat blue diamond from Botswana. It is among the largest and rarest stones of its kind ever found in that country.

And Fred, the LVMH-owned jeweler, marked its 90th anniversary with a 101-carat yellow diamond it calls the Soleil d'Or. It is a stone so significant that it will not be sold, and will return instead to the house's private vaults after a turn at Paris Couture Week.

[THE READ]

So if we put the week together, the message is consistent. Across watches, jewelry and handbags, the very top of the luxury market, the rare, the collectible, the genuinely scarce, is not slowing down. It is setting records. What is cooling is the broad, aspirational middle, the shopper who buys one nice thing when times feel good and holds off when they do not. For the brands, the lesson of the week is the one Watches of Switzerland learned out loud. The growth story now lives at the top, with the collectors, and the houses that understand that are the ones spending on craft, on heritage, and on the objects that hold their value long after the season ends.

[OUTRO]

That's it for this week's Luxury Spending of July 4th and 5th. For the data behind these trends, an ALT/FNDATA membership gives you our dashboards, reports and proprietary datasets at altfndata.com/membership, or reach us anytime at [e-mail].

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if you enjoy the show, please leave us a five star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

I'm Sharon, from ALT/FNDATA. I'll talk with you next weekend.