SDC Weekly 83; Lighthouses; Why You Need More Time Between Purchases; On Wonder ++
Swatch Group Results, Gold Standard and Watches, Studio Underd0g & Fears' Gimlet, Journe Interview, Patek’s Discontinuations, Sell-Out Index January Report, Watch Industry ‘Insider’ Story,
🚨 Welcome to SDC Weekly 83!
Estimated reading time: ~37 mins
Today we’ll look at Swatch Group’s 2024 results, some spicy insights from François-Paul Journe about the state of watchmaking, how gold prices relate to watch values, Studio Underd0g’s latest collaboration with Fears, and as usual, some personal reflections on collecting which will hopefully change how you think about your next purchase.
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If you’re new to SDC, welcome! Feel free to catch up on the older editions of SDC Weekly here.
P.S. My unofficial editor is on holiday, so please excuse me if there are more typos than usual 😛
Swatch Group 2024 Results
Last Thursday the Swatch Group dropped their 2024 results like a surprise album - and kinda like most albums these days, it’s not exactly a chart-topper 😂.
The numbers are about as pretty as a MoonSwatch after a month of daily wear:
Net sales: CHF 6.7 billion (-12.2% at constant rates, -14.6% at current rates)
Operating profit: CHF 304 million (down from CHF 1.19 billion in 2023)
Operating margin: 4.5% (down from 15.1%)
Net income: CHF 219 million (down 75% from CHF 890 million)
I read somewhere that this is only the second time since 2012 that Swatch Group’s sales have dropped below CHF 7 billion - the other time being 2020, when the world had a pretty good excuse for not buying watches (but as we all know, that changed pretty quickly!). On the day of the announcement, the market reaction seemed to be priced in already, and if anything, the reported results were ‘less bad’ than the market expected - as you can see from this lead up to the announcement on the 30th :
Yes, that’s a short-term perspective, and indeed, over the past year, they’ve tanked: