Watch (Russian market)

2024: Russia has created the thinnest mechanical watches in the world. Video

Russian inventor and watchmaker Konstantin Chaikin in September 2024 presented the world with a unique mechanical watch called ThinKing, which has become the thinnest in the world. Their case is only 1.65 mm thick, making this a record in the watch industry. Read more here

2023: In Russia, sales of wristwatches decreased by 6.4% to 4.9 million units

In 2023, sales of wristwatches on the Russian market decreased by 6.4% on an annualized basis and amounted to about 4.9 million pieces. This segment has been showing negative dynamics for four years, as stated in the BusinesStat study, the results of which were presented on March 18, 2024.

Statistics take into account the implementation of products of different types: these are mechanical, quartz, electronic and kinetic watches, as well as smart devices. The report includes data on sales of wristwatches with a body made of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal. Among the significant players in the Russian market are named LLC "Watch," LLC "PCHz" Rocket, "PJSC" ZchZ, "CJSC ChChZ" Vostok "and LLC ChK" Slava. "

In 2019, 9.19 million wristwatches were sold in Russia. A year later, sales decreased by 15.5% to 7.77 million units, and in 2021 the fall was at the level of 14.7% with a final result of 6.63 million units. In 2022, a decline of another 20.9% followed, as a result of which the market volume decreased to 5.24 million units.

In general, the study says, in 2019-2023, sales of wristwatches in Russia decreased annually by an average of 14.4%. This is due, in particular, to the transformation of the market. If earlier the bulk of the watch was either classic mechanical watches or ordinary electronic ones, then by the end of the period under consideration smart gadgets are actively gaining popularity. In addition, a variety of fitness trackers compete with wristwatches. At the same time, against the background of the current geopolitical situation, the export of luxury goods more expensive than $300 was banned to Russia: as a result, Richemont, LVMH, Swatch and other major players officially left the country. On the other hand, in the segment of "non-juvenile" products, an important role was played by the decision to include many departed brands in the list of products for parallel imports: these are Apple, Casio, Citizen, Garmin, Samsung, etc.^[1]

2022: 13.5% decline in wall and desktop watch imports to 7.2 million

In 2022, 7.2 million wall and desktop watches were imported to Russia, which is 13.5% less than a year earlier. Such data in December 2023 was released by BusinesStat analysts.

According to their estimates, about 98% of the supply of wall and desktop watches is imported into the Russian Federation from abroad came from China and Belarus. Imports of products from the Middle Kingdom in 2022 reached 4.26 million units, which corresponds to 59.2% of the total import of watches. The share of Belarus in 2022 amounted to 38.9% (about 2.8 million hours). As noted in the study, the volume of imports of wall and desktop watches from Belarus to Russia increased significantly back in 2019, after the production of watches by Chasprom Group of Companies in Vitebsk was opened in the fall of the same year.

Among other countries, the largest number of wall and desktop watches in 2022 was imported from Hong Kong, France and Finland.

In 2022, 445.1 thousand watches of all types were produced in Russia, which is 0.5% and 17.5% less than a year and two years ago, respectively. More than 80% of the total watch production is in the territory of two federal districts. The Central Federal District produces 49.2% of the total watch production in Russia, in the Volga Federal District - 34.6%, in the Siberian Federal District - 8.9%, in the North-West Federal District - 5.9%, in the Ural Federal District - 1.4%. The share of the remaining federal districts in the production structure is insignificant and is less than 1%.

The largest Russian companies for the production of various types of watches are: the Nika watch factory (Moscow), the Vostok Chistopol watch factory, the Zarya Penza watch factory, the Polet-Chronos watch factory (Moscow), the Rocket watch factory (Peterhof), etc.^[2]

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