Editor’s Note
This article highlights a key trend in the luxury sector, where resilient high-end jewellery demand is currently compensating for softer performance in watches.
PARIS, May 16 (Reuters) – Cartier owner Richemont beat expectations on Friday with a 7% rise in quarterly sales as wealthy shoppers continued to splash out on jewellery, helping the group outperform rivals in the luxury downturn.
Richemont, which also owns jewellery brand Van Cleef & Arpels and watchmaker Piaget, said its jewellery sales jumped 11% in its fourth quarter to the end of March, from a year earlier. That offset an 11% decline in its watches division, where Chinese sales have been hit as the country’s property crisis shrank the appetite for luxury purchases.
Swiss-based Richemont’s total sales for the quarter amounted to 5.17 billion euros ($5.80 billion), a 7% rise in constant currencies, beating a 6% rise forecast in a Visible Alpha consensus cited by HSBC.
Richemont shares rose 5% on Friday morning.
The group, which caters to an extremely wealthy clientele, is viewed by analysts as more resilient to a downturn than other luxury groups that rely more on fashion sales.
Bertschy also flagged what he said was spectacular growth and profit, especially when compared with competitor LVMH, which owns jewellery labels Bulgari and Tiffany, although he said Richemont was “not impervious” to the current volatile environment.
Richemont executives, who were more cautious than peers in raising prices during the post-pandemic surge in demand, said they were closely watching tariffs in the United States, and will consider “all different options” to mitigate the impact while sticking to a strategy of keeping prices globally at the same level.
Cartier, which cites exchange rate movements as a key reason for price hikes, already raised prices in March.
U.S. tariffs could include a 20% charge on European fashion and 31% for Swiss-produced watches if fully applied, but in April U.S. President Donald Trump paused most of his tariffs for 90 days, setting a general 10% duty rate instead.
Richemont’s peer Hermes has said it is passing the full amount of tariffs to customers in the United States.
Fears of a global recession have prompted downward revisions in estimates with consultancy Bain lowering its annual sales forecast for luxury goods to a likely 2% to 5% drop, following the sector’s 1% decline in 2024.