With rising costs and appreciation of the euro against the NT dollar, European luxury watches priced from NT$300,000 to NT$10 million may soon see a 10 percent price hike within the next two months, local retailers said yesterday.
"The price hike may range from NT$30,000 to over NT$1 million [per watch]," said Michael Chen (
Prices of the world's top-tier brands including Audemar Piguet, Girard-Perregaux, Patek Philippe and Rolex are expected to rise as the New Taiwan dollar has depreciated against the euro and Swiss Franc in recent months.
The New Taiwan dollar weakened from NT$34.7 in December last year to NT$37.9 yesterday against the euro.
"We have been under great pressure as to whether we should raise prices due to the exchange rate fluctuation," Rae Wang (
"If the New Taiwan dollar continues to weaken in May, a 5 to 10 percent price rise will be inevitable," Wang added.
Wholesale prices of luxury watches have been on the rise since late last year, retailers added.
"Facing economic bad times, we dared not have a big jump in retail prices for fear of scaring away consumers," Chen said, adding that the standard price rise in Europe, on average, ranged between 15 to 20 percent.
Despite the jump, some luxury watch customers' consumption power still remains even though year-on-year growth is declining.
"We continue to see a monthly 20 percent growth in sales," said Vic Lin (
Lin said that new pricing policies will be finalized among worldwide dealers in the upcoming annual international watch exhibition, which is scheduled to open in Switzerland in April, when watchmakers report their new costs on materials.
RSS