This Monday evening at Casa Cruz, a discreet private club along Park Avenue, on the Upper East Side, the president of LVMH’s watch division, Frédéric Arnault, launches the 6th edition of “Watch Week”, a week of watch. Nine brands of the group represented by their CEOs, around forty American and South American journalists, and a few hand-picked European journalists.
After Dubai, Geneva, Singapore and Miami, Watch Week returns to the United States, a strategic choice at the end of a complicated year for the watch industry, marked by a sluggish business climate and a declining Chinese market. The group’s results figures will be revealed this week, but we already know that most of the group’s brands have suffered, even if Bulgari and Tiffany, driven by jewelry, have limited the damage. On the watchmaking side, only Tag Heuer shows slight growth. Tiffany having a separate status in the LVMH portfolio. The iconic American jeweler continues to absorb the cost of massive investments launched in 2020, even if Frédéric Arnault recalls that “Last year, Tiffany’s New York store had some of the highest sales volumes in the group”. In these uncertain economic times, the “US” represents an Eldorado for luxury and particularly for the watchmaking sector: “The market was very dynamic in 2024. We are confident in the fine watchmaking sector in the United States”concludes Frédéric Arnault.
An observation shared by the president of LVMH United States, Anish Melwani, who is already measuring the positive effects of the election of Donald Trump on the business climate. “Before the election in November, 100% of Americans were nervous. The day after the election, just under 50% of them were disappointed, and just over 50% were satisfied. But above all, he adds, the results were clear, no dispute, the Democrats, good players, immediately turned the page. From the week in November following the result, there was a notable recovery in business. The improvement was confirmed at Christmas and even in January: after having pleased their loved ones, Americans returned to our stores to please themselves! »
Frédéric Arnault identified the strong development potential of the watch market in the United States upon taking over as head of the division a year ago, when the group had already initiated a significant shift towards this continent. Like the acquisition of the iconic jewelry brand Tiffany for $15 billion in 2020, celebrated by the facelift of its “flag ship” – main store – on 5th Avenue. A magnificent ten-story setting topped with a luminous statuette of the brand’s symbol bird, “Bird on a Rock”, created by designer Jean Schlumberger in 1965.
Trump’s election has positive effects on the business climate
On this prestigious 5th Avenue/57th Street intersection, a few meters from the Trump Tower, the power of LVMH is deployed on three of the four street corners: Tiffany dominates the magnificent Bulgari showcase with Italian design from the 1930s and the monumental reproduced Vuitton trunks gray leather style, wood and metal frames, which conceal the pharaonic construction site of the brand’s future site, unveiled in early 2027.
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-Moving upmarket
An investment that reflects the brand’s confidence in the potential of the American market. At the cost of moving upmarket, both for watches and jewelry, says Anthony Ledru, CEO of Tiffany: “We are in the Top 3 in the world in fine jewelry, the development potential in the United States, which represents our main market, is colossal, by increasing our offering towards the very high end. The average price of our jewelry has doubled in four years, following the transformation of our stores, which have become worlds in which our customers come to live a unique experience. This corresponds to market expectations. » A universe which will soon have a setting in Paris, commensurate with the prestige of the brand, in a location still kept secret.
Tiffany will soon have a showcase in Paris to match its prestige
America, a land of growth for high-end watchmaking, despite Donald Trump’s future choices, want to believe the big bosses present who came to attend the LVMH event. “We must distinguish between the president’s often vehement declarations and his actions,” explains a New York CEO. For example, he announced a 25% tax increase on products imported from Canada on February 1. He specified, when signing his first decrees, that this would be studied. Will Trump tax massively? I want to answer you: “Who knows?” »
The luxury industry, in this context, fears being collateral damage in a trade war which is being played out around the flagship sectors of each continent. Airbus against Boeing, American gas against Europe’s electrical and renewable energy resources, steel, Gafa… “Resolve these matters quickly!” » quips a specialist in the luxury industry, and LVMH’s American dream will then be within reach…
Swiss
