audemars piguet beats patek philippe in the largest watch brand annual report

a record year

some news for wristwatch devotees: audemars piguet took up the fourth position in the annual watch report, moving up two places from its rank last year and past its competitor patek philippe. the news signals a record year for audemars piguet and the best in its history yet. it strikes historical competitor patek philippe aside despite the buzz patek philippe created through its nautilus collection with tiffany & co.

for this report, oliver r. müller, the founder of luxeconsult, a watch industry specialist consultancy, and investment bank morgan stanley analyzed and investigated the business of the watch industry. ‘audemars piguet is surfing on an unbroken wave of success with the royal oak, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and will undoubtedly contribute to another record year. we estimate that almost 90% of its sales are generated by the royal oak and royal oak offshore, but the code 11:59 collection launched in january 2019 is starting to make its mark and accounts for 5% of sales,’ pens müller.

images courtesy of audimars piguet

more polarized distribution

the report says that the distribution of margins has become more polarized than that of turnover with the top four brands – rolex, audemars piguet, patek philippe, and richard mille – accounting for 41% of sales and 62% of the operating margins, an achievement of returns only selected luxury brands can match. ‘at the same time, audemars piguet’s turnover is generated by a growing number of boutiques – now making up 75% of its revenue – which allow the brand to retain the retailer’s margin for itself while building direct relationships with its clients. and they also help the brand better manage inventory and avoid losing sales given that its products are perennially out of stock,’ shares müller.

the brand moved up two places from the previous year

pre-pandemic sales

resurrecting the flow of business, the report delivers good news through the brands’ return to the pre-pandemic level of sales with swiss watch exports peaking at 31.2% compared to 2020 and even 2.7% higher than 2019. despite an increase of two million watches in the year, a downside remains evident with the volume of exports being stagnant at 4.9 million units below that of 2019.

audemars piguet now ranks fourth