A client passes a jewellery show within the window of a Van Cleef & Arpels luxurious items retailer, operated by Cie. Richemont SA, on by way of Montenapoleone in Milan, Italy.
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With a diamond encrusted ring right here and a uncommon gemstone necklace there, the world’s wealthiest are persevering with to adorn themselves with the best jewellery at the same time as broader luxurious consumers pull again.
However make no mistake, one mother-of-pearl bracelet is to not be confused with one other. Because the tremendous wealthy develop much more selective, more and more solely the perfect will do.
That spells optimistic information for Swiss luxurious group Richemont, which boasts a few of the luxurious jewellery market’s most sought-after manufacturers, together with Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati and Cartier.
“Richemont’s jewellery manufacturers are actually on the prime of client desirability,” Luca Solca, sector head for world luxurious items at Bernstein, advised CNBC’s “Squawk Field Europe.”
“There is not any debate. Regardless of the efforts by LVMH to problem this management, I feel that different manufacturers are clearly behind.”
Richemont on Friday reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter gross sales, led by 11% development inside its Jewelry Maisons division. For the total 12 months, jewellery was additionally the group’s strongest phase, rising 8%.
The outcomes spherical off a outcomes season wherein main luxurious names from LVHM to Kering and Burberry reported a slowdown in gross sales within the quarter to March, dashing earlier hopes of a turnaround within the embattled sector.
Gross sales inside LVMH’s watch and jewellery division, particularly, had been flat year-on-year within the first quarter, having declined 2% on an natural foundation in 2024 amid softer demand for key manufacturers similar to Tiffany & Co, Bvlgari, TAG Heuer and Hublot.
“We’re gaining market share in jewellery, from branded and non-branded firms,” Richemont’s chairman Johann Rupert mentioned throughout an earnings name Friday.
Watches fall out of vogue
Regardless of the continued attract of its jewellery manufacturers, nevertheless, Richemont will not be totally resistant to wider sectoral headwinds.
The efficiency of its Specialist Watchmakers division, which options Piaget and Roger Dubuis, paints a extra nuanced image. Richemont’s watch gross sales fell 13% in 2024, led primarily by weak point in China. That price of decline eased solely barely within the second half of the 12 months, due to recovering power within the Americas.
“The worldwide watch market skilled a slowdown affecting volumes. This was led by demand weak point in China, with better resilience of high-end worth segments,” the corporate mentioned in its report.
All people and their canine has purchased a be careful of Covid-19 and that may take some time to digest.
Luca Solca
sector head for world luxurious items at Bernstein
Clouding the image additional, many different premium Swiss watchmakers together with Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, are privately owned, making their efficiency troublesome to decipher.
Macroeconomics apart, nevertheless, Bernstein’s Solca mentioned the basic nature of the posh watch market — the place merchandise are usually positioned as long-term, if not lifetime, purchases — inevitably makes it gradual to rebound.
“All people and their canine has purchased a be careful of Covid-19 and that may take some time to digest. So I anticipate watches to be on the backfoot for some time longer,” he mentioned.
“Folks purchase jewellery extra often, and jewellery has turn into additionally cheaper relative to purses final 12 months, therefore the higher dynamic in that class.”
Doable headwinds
The expansion of the high-end jewellery market versus different high fashion staples similar to vogue and leather-based items may stand Richemont in good stead amid resurging world commerce headwinds.
Richemont’s Rupert mentioned Friday that the corporate wouldn’t take worth will increase that it can’t maintain, contrasting warnings of costs rises from different luxurious and jewellery gamers.
Cartier, a unit of Cie. Richemont SA, luxurious watches sit on show in a retailer entrance.
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“The enterprise is more and more reliant on its jewelry arm and can hope the power of its manufacturers on this space will maintain it,” Russ Mould, funding director at AJ Bell mentioned in a observe Friday.
Nonetheless, analysts warn that the corporate might but face challenges that threaten market dominance.
“Richemont continues to face a number of important headwinds together with the power of the Swiss franc in opposition to the greenback, larger gold costs and the affect of tariffs,” Mould added.
