Watches of Switzerland Group Eyes U.S., Pre-Owned Growth as UK Stabilizes

Key Points

• Watches of Switzerland is leaning hard into U.S. expansion, where sales reached $1.24 billion in FY 2026 and now make up 51% of group revenue. Management says the fragmented U.S. luxury watch and jewelry market still offers room for acquisitions and organic growth.
• The U.K. business is stabilizing after years of disruption from Brexit, VAT changes and COVID, with executives saying conditions improved in FY 2026 and have gotten better into FY 2027. The company has also streamlined its U.K. estate into fewer, larger, more productive showrooms.
• Pre-owned watches, jewelry and e-commerce are key growth pillars, alongside add-on acquisitions like Hodinkee and Deutsch & Deutsch. Pre-owned sales have risen sharply since FY 2019, while Roberto Coin and lab-grown diamonds are helping drive margin and customer growth.

Watches of Switzerland Group LON: WOSG executives outlined a strategy centered on sustainable, profitable growth, emphasizing continued expansion in the U.S., improving U.K. market conditions, growth in pre-owned watches and jewelry, e-commerce development and selective acquisitions.

Chief Executive Officer Bryan Duffy told investors that the group’s major market, Swiss watches, “has proved resilient continually and robust” and remains characterized by demand exceeding supply, a condition he said the company expects to continue “for the foreseeable future.” Duffy said fiscal 2027 has “started well” and confirmed the company’s guidance for the year, while noting he would not provide financial targets beyond the previously issued FY 2027 guidance.

U.S. Business Remains Central to Growth

Duffy said the company’s U.S. business generated $1.24 billion in sales in FY 2026, after the group entered the market in 2017. He said the U.S. represented 51% of group sales in FY 2026, compared with 24% in FY 2019. Over that period, group sales grew at a compound annual growth rate of 13.1%, with the U.S. growing at 26.4% and the U.K. at 6.3%, according to Duffy.

Deputy Group CEO David Hurley said the U.S. business has grown from approximately $120 million after the acquisition of Mayors to more than $1.2 billion in less than nine years. He said growth had come from multiple drivers, including acquisitions, showroom investment, e-commerce, pre-owned watches, client experience, luxury jewelry and the more recent additions of Roberto Coin, Hodinkee and Deutsch & Deutsch.

Hurley said the U.S. luxury watch and jewelry market remains fragmented, creating opportunities for acquisitions and organic expansion in underserved luxury markets. He highlighted the company’s U.S. footprint, including Watches of Switzerland, Mayors, Betteridge and Deutsch, 33 monobrand boutiques, Analog:Shift in pre-owned watches and Roberto Coin’s access to more than 400 distribution points.

U.K. Business Shows Signs of Recovery

Craig Bolton, president of the U.K. business, said the company has delivered an 8% sales CAGR in the U.K. from FY 2015 to FY 2026 while navigating Brexit, the removal of VAT-free shopping and COVID-related disruption. Bolton said the U.K. market improved during FY 2026 and has improved further into FY 2027, describing current conditions as more stable and recognizable.

Bolton said the company has shifted toward fewer, larger and higher-impact locations in the U.K. Over the period discussed, sales per showroom rose from GBP 2.6 million to GBP 6.5 million, while showroom costs as a percentage of sales declined from 26% to below 19%. He said the majority of the estate optimization is now complete.

Rolex remains a major focus in the U.K. Bolton pointed to the Rolex boutique on Old Bond Street, which opened in March 2025, and upcoming projects in Glasgow and Heathrow Terminal 5. The Glasgow showroom is scheduled to open in October 2026, while the Heathrow project is expected to open in the first half of calendar 2027.

Pre-Owned, Jewelry and E-Commerce Highlighted as Growth Pillars

Duffy said pre-owned watches have grown from 1.6% of group sales in FY 2019 to 8.3% in FY 2026. He said 77% of pre-owned clients are new to the group, expanding the company’s customer base. Bolton said pre-owned has been the U.K. business’s fastest-growing category since the September 2023 launch of Rolex Certified Pre-Owned, with 30 Rolex Certified Pre-Owned showrooms and 42 Watches of Switzerland Certified Pre-Owned locations.

Jewelry was also presented as a major opportunity. Duffy cited a U.S. luxury jewelry market of nearly $65 billion and said self-purchasing has been a key driver of growth. He said Watches of Switzerland sees significant potential in Roberto Coin, including marketing investment, expanded shop-in-shops, monobrand stores, online growth and export markets.

Duffy said new Roberto Coin shop-in-shops at Mayors Jewelers produced 186% growth versus prior case-line presentation and increased average selling prices by 66%. He said 17 additional shop-in-shop installations have been secured for completion by January 2027, with 31 more under discussion. Three Roberto Coin monobrand stores have opened in New York, Miami and Las Vegas, with three more planned.

Bolton said lab-grown diamonds, launched in November 2025, have become the company’s fastest-growing and most productive jewelry category in the U.K., attracting younger clients and generating more than 80% of sales from new demand.

Hodinkee and Acquisitions Add New Audiences

Hodinkee founder Ben Clymer said the watch media platform reaches about 25 million unique users annually and has around 370,000 active community members. He said Hodinkee’s business today is more capital light, with advertising, brand partnerships, limited editions, insurance, the Hodinkee magazine, video content and events among its key activities.

Clymer said Hodinkee has more than GBP 1 billion insured through its insurance offering with partner Chubb, along with 267,000 watches cataloged. He said the Hodinkee app was recently used for a Universal Genève pre-order program that generated about GBP 1 million in sales within a few weeks.

Tad Deutsch, representing Deutsch & Deutsch, said the Texas-based family business joined Watches of Switzerland to preserve its customer relationships while gaining technology, CRM, expanded brand relationships, Rolex Certified Pre-Owned merchandise and purchasing power. He said approximately 95% of associates remain with the business following integration.

Financial Priorities and Capital Allocation

Chief Financial Officer Anders Romberg said the company’s growth pillars remain unchanged: showroom investment, certified pre-owned, e-commerce, luxury branded jewelry, client experience and acquisitions. He said capital expenditure is expected to remain around GBP 60 million to GBP 70 million per year in the medium term, declining as a percentage of sales.

Romberg said Roberto Coin delivered an approximately 20% EBIT margin in FY 2026, even after a GBP 3.5 million bad debt write-off, and is expected to support group margin expansion. He said U.K. e-commerce is close to 10% of revenue and profitable, while U.S. e-commerce was less than 2% of sales in FY 2026 but is growing materially ahead of the broader business after recent investment.

During the Q&A, executives said Rolex remains more than half of group sales and is still a critical partnership. Duffy said acquisitions involving Rolex stores are discussed in advance with the brand, and that Rolex has supported the group’s prior U.S. acquisitions, including Mayors, Betteridge and Deutsch & Deutsch.

About Watches of Switzerland Group LON: WOSG

Established in 2007 the Watches of Switzerland Group is the UK's largest luxury watch retailer, operating in the UK and US comprising eight prestigious brands; Watches of Switzerland (UK and US), Mappin & Webb (UK), Goldsmiths (UK), Mayors (US), Betteridge (US), Deutsch & Deutsch (US), Analog:Shift (US) and Hodinkee (US), with a complementary jewellery offering. Since 8 May 2024, the Group has also owned the exclusive distribution rights for Roberto Coin in the USA, Canada, Central America and the Caribbean.

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