China Takes Over the Luxury Watch Market

China has overtaken the US and has grow to be the market with the highest demand for luxury watches, according to a new report by Digital Luxury Group, the leading digital market researcher in the industry.

The information is based on millions of intentions expressed by independent and anonymous consumers searching for luxury watch brands through the world’s leading search engines. The goal of the analysis was to provide a view on the preferences and topics of interest of luxury watch clientele throughout the world. Nearly 17% of the global searches were performed through web-enabled mobile devices. The shares of mobile searches were particularly high in Japan, where it represents roughly 50%.

For the first time in three years, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso lost first position as the most sought after haute horlogerie model. The watch is now in the third place behind Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak and IWC’s Portuguese. Singapore is emerging as the country where consumers express the most advanced knowledge of luxury models, with 18% of the command straightforwardly linked to model names, not just brand names alone.