At current exchange rates, that converts to about $101,920, $229,315 and $254,796.
Many watchmakers cite the strength of the Swiss franc — which has gained roughly 19 percent against the U.S. dollar since early 2022, when the currencies traded at near parity — as a factor in rising prices. Not only has the franc’s rise made Swiss watches considerably more expensive for foreign buyers, it also has inflated their production costs.
But it is far from the only factor affecting pricing.
Since the Pandemic
During a lunch break at Watches and Wonders, Jeff Kingston, a collector, watchmaking expert and independent consultant to the Swiss brand Blancpain, reflected on how the surge in demand for watches during the pandemic drove up prices in the primary and resale markets.
“People were buying what was a scarce commodity,” Mr. Kingston said. “Production went way down because you couldn’t staff the workshops fully. People had nothing else to do. So they were buying in a frenzy. And that bid prices up.”
In the years that followed, the United States, the Swiss watch industry’s largest export market, enacted tariffs — which now stand at 10 percent, down from 39 percent in mid-2025 — adding to the pressure. And watchmakers who increased prices have found it all but impossible to reduce them for fear of angering clients whose timepieces would be devalued.
In other words, what goes up in the high-end watch trade almost certainly does not come down.
In Geneva, for example, the prestige maker A. Lange & Söhne introduced its Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen,” a limited edition of 50 pieces in platinum, for 550,000 euros ($640,150). The watch is an upgraded version of a 2019 white gold limited edition that retailed for $400,000. This time around the piece featured a new movement and a smoked sapphire dial with a luminous display. Some longtime Lange collectors have groused, although in private, that the pricing seemed disconnected from reality.
During a recent interview in Geneva, Wilhelm Schmid, the brand’s chief executive, cited the inflationary environment’s effect on pricing and the brand’s latest increase, which went into effect April 1 on select models.
