In the general impression, Swatch is usually a kind of quartz watch with a few hundred pieces, and even a high-end model is more than 1,000 yuan. With the launch of the Flymagic watch, which sells for tens of thousands of yuan, the price of Swatch refreshed my perception. Material movement changed, why does this Swatch sell so expensive? Who gives it courage? Of course not Liang Jingru, but new technology. Swatch mostly uses quartz movement, plastic case with resin mirror, it seems that this is the ‘standard look’ of Swatch. Flymagic, a Swatch Flymagic watch with a 90-hour power reserve, uses a Nivachron hairspring and first undergoes a ‘big blood exchange’ on the material. The case is changed to stainless steel or stainless steel PVD plated, and the mirror is upgraded to sapphire, everything is in line with the high-end watches. Next, he moved the knife in the ‘heart’ and directly replaced the quartz movement with a Flymagic automatic winding movement with a power reserve of 90 hours. This movement is an upgraded version of the Sistem51 movement. The watch ‘cancels’ the dial and the movement is hollowed out, so you can admire the movement from the front of the watch. The oscillating weight is also placed on the front, bringing unique visual effects. The rotor is located in the front movement of the watch and is the first to use the new hairspring Nivachron. This is a hairspring made of titanium-based alloy material, which was jointly developed by the Swatch Group and Audemars Piguet. Nivachron hairspring is paramagnetic, effectively antimagnetic, and has good shock resistance, which is also helpful for travel time. Flymagic watches are available in three models, each limited to 500 pieces. All models are equipped with three straps-a rubber strap and two leather straps. Therefore, it is not surprising that it can sell for 10,000 yuan. This watch is a microcosm of the powerful research and development capabilities of the Swatch Group. All future mechanical watches of the group have anti-magnetic properties. Equipped with silicon hairspring or Nivachron hairspring, in addition to extending the warranty period, it will also greatly improve the competitiveness of the product. Compared with the Richemont Group, which attaches equal importance to watches and luxury products, and the Louvre Xuan Group, which focuses on luxury products, the Swatch Group is a professional ‘vertical’ watch group. High-end, then low-end and other positioning. To some extent, the performance of the Swatch Group can directly reflect the rise and fall of the watch industry. Important figures So, how has the Swatch Group performed in the past 2018? Let’s look at a few sets of numbers first. In 2018, the Swatch Group applied for 212 new patents and created 1700 new jobs. The Group’s net sales reached 8.475 billion Swiss francs, an increase of 6.1% year-on-year. Operating profit and net profit also improved. Operating profit increased by 15.2% year-on-year to 1.154 billion Swiss francs, while net profit increased by 14.8% to 867 million Swiss francs. The Swatch Group’s net sales, net profit and operating profit have all improved. From these figures, we can see that the watch industry has started to pick up since 2017. However, even a large group like Swatch sometimes encounters insufficient production capacity. In 2018, due to insufficient capacity in the production of cases, dials and hands, Omega and Longines had a large number of delayed deliveries. Despite the impact of insufficient production capacity of the 50 噚 series titanium watches, some watch brands still perform very well, especially Blancpain, Omega and Longines. The performance of mid- to low-priced brands is also good. Blancpain’s sales in 2018 can be summarized with a ‘record.’ As Blancpain’s ‘explosion model’, the market performance of the 50 噚 series is very eye-catching. Regional operations Asia is a “big cake” for the Swatch Group. Regardless of wholesale or retail business, Asia has again achieved substantial growth. However, in the last three months of 2018, demand for watches and clocks in the Asian market declined, especially in the wholesale business. The North American market is also very strong. The Tissot Carson Zhen men’s watch is relatively optimistic about the performance of the European market, which can be said to be mixed. Specifically, sales in the UK and Switzerland have increased, but the performance of the French market has been relatively weak, especially during the end of the year. Mid- to low-priced watches are growing rapidly on the online platform, but will vary by region. Looking forward to 2019 The Swatch Group looks forward to a healthy and healthy development of its business in 2019 and will resolve its capacity issues in the first quarter of 2019. I believe that if the capacity problem is resolved, the Swatch Group’s financial performance in 2019 will be even better. In addition, the market share of the United States and Japan is expected to increase in 2019. As far as brands are concerned, Harry Winston will continue to maintain rapid growth in 2019. By buying ‘pink heritage’ diamonds at sky-high prices, Harry Winston has maintained its leading position in the industry. Speedmaster “Dark Side of the Moon” Apollo 8 watch Longines Concas V.H.P. Chronograph Watch In view of the good performance of Blancpain in 2018, it is expected that Blancpain will continue to grow significantly in 2019. Omega celebrates the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and will launch different products around this theme. In the second half of 2019, Omega will release a special edition ‘minus 1′ watch for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan. In the last quarter of 2018, due to capacity bottlenecks, the market demand for Longines Concas V.H.P. watches could not be fully met. Eliminating capacity bottlenecks will have a positive impact on Longines’ development in 2019. In 2019, Tissot will launch its smart watch T-touch with its own operating system. In January 2019, Swatch launched Swatch Pay in Switzerland, and this payment method was very successful. Swatch Pay will also be launched in other countries in 2019. The Basel watch exhibition is near, but due to the withdrawal of the Swatch Group and some brands, the entire pavilion will look a lot deserted, and some media colleagues have abandoned their plans to watch the exhibition. What would it look like if there were no major client Swatch Group Basel? Will the Swatch Group always be ‘absent’ from Basel? Stay tuned for follow-up reports from Watch World.