Wealthy shoppers spend on jewelry only if it’s the right brand

With a diamond raised ring here and a rare gemstone necklace there, the richest in the world continue to decorate themselves with the best jewelry, even while wider luxury shoppers withdraw.

But make no mistake, one mother-bracelet is not to be confused with another. As the super rich grow even more selectively, only the best will only do the best.

That spells positive news for the Swiss luxury group RichemontWhich has the SOUST-AFTER brands of the luxury jewelry market, including Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati and Cartier.

“The jeweler brands of Richemont are really at the top of consumer’s desirability,” Luca Solca told, for global luxury good sector luxury goods at Bernstein, to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe”.

“There is no debate. The efforts of LVMH to challenge this leadership, I think other brands clearly stay behind.”

On Friday, Richemont reported a better than expected celebrated quarter turnover, led by 11% growth within the Jewelers division. For the entire year, jewelry was also the strongest segment of the group and grew by 8%.

The results complete a results season in which large luxury names of LVHM Unpleasant Tube And Burberry reported a delay in the sale in the quarter to March, so that earlier hope for a change in the controversial sector was deposited.

Turnover within LVMH’s Watch and Jewelry Division was in particular a flat year in the Cruce Quarter, after 2% on organic basis in 2024 due to the softer demand for important brands such as Tiffany & Co, Bvlgari, Tag Heuer and Hublot.

“We win market share in jewelry, from brand companies and non-breaked companies,” said Richemont’s chairman Johann Rupert during a profit call on Friday.

Evote The constant allure of his jewelry brands, but Richemont is not great for the wider sector headwind.

The implementation of the specialist Watchmakers Division, with Piaget and Roger Dubuis, sketches a more nuanced image. Richemont’s watch sales fell by 13% in 2024, mainly led by weakness in China. That number of decline only decreased slightly in the second half of the year, thanks to the recovery in power in North and South America.

“The global watch market has had a delay of volumes. This was due to the demand in China, with a greater resilience of high -quality price segments,” the company said in its report.

The image further cloudy, many other premium Swiss watchmakers, including Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, are private ownership, making Esir performance directul for deciphering.

Apart from the macro economy, Bernstein’s Solca said that the fundamental nature of the Luxury Watch Market-where products are usually posted as a long-term, if not lifelong, purchase makes it slow to return.

“Everyone and their dog have withheld a look from Covid-19 and that will take a digest.

“People often buy jewelry, and jewelry were also cheaper last year compared to handbags, the better dynamics in that category.”

The growth of the high-end jewelry market versus oher haute couture niets such as fashion and leather goods can continue to stand in the midst of the weather of the worldwide trade.

Rupert van Richemont said on Friday that the company would not take price increases that cannot assemble it, contrasting prices warnings from other luxury and jewelry players.

“The company is amazingly dependent on its jewelry arm and will hope that the power of his brands in this area will support it,” said Russ Mold, investment director at AJ Bell in a note on Friday.

Nevertheless, analysts warn that the company can still be confronted with challenges that the dominance of the thread market.

“Richemont continues to have to deal with serious important headwinds, including the strength of the Swiss franc against the dollar, higher gold prices and the impact of rates,” Mold added.