Mexico’s Watch Sales Continue to Grow, but Retailers Are Wary

When watch brands go to Mexico, they often unfurl the national colors.

Last year, at the annual Salón Internacional Alta Relojería watch show in Mexico City, at least three brands — Manufacture Royale, HYT and Maurice Lacroix — introduced special series or one-of-a-kind pieces in the green, white and red of the Mexican flag.

The nods to Mexico also went beyond colors. Minase, an independent Japanese brand, unveiled a watch combining the traditional Seigaiha wave motif with the Mexican emblem of an eagle with a snake in its beak; Hublot had a Spirit of Big Bang edition with a strap made of nopal cactus fiber; Bovet offered a timepiece with a miniature portrait of Benito Juárez, the first Indigenous president of Mexico; and Louis Moinet displayed its Fuego Nuevo model, with the Aztec Sun Stone engraved on a meteorite dial.

Collectors here have come to appreciate watches that pay homage to their country — “dedicated pieces that have to do with something national, patriotic, cultural and unique,” said Carlos Alonso, the founder and chief executive of the watch show, best known as SIAR (pronounced see-AR). Of course, Mexican aficionados buy plenty of other watches, too.

In fact, the country was among the world’s fastest-growing markets in 2023 and 2024, according to figures from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, a nonprofit trade organization.

“In the watch sector, Mexico is not an emerging country,” Mr. Alonso said, adding that the domestic market is “considerably more solid, mature and stable than what others sometimes think we are.”

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

The post Mexico’s Watch Sales Continue to Grow, but Retailers Are Wary appeared first on New York Times.