New Delhi: India could become the seventh or eighth largest export market for Swiss watches next year, advancing from 14th now, said a top executive at Franck Muller, driven by strong sales growth even as demand weakened in China and the US.
"India is the rising star in the watch industry," Erol Baliyan, chief executive for the Middle East, Africa and India at the Swiss luxury watch brand, told ET in an interview. "While other markets are struggling, India saw a 28.5% increase in Swiss watch exports from January to September, which is very encouraging."
Exports to India in the first nine months of 2026 were worth 265 million Swiss francs (more than ₹3,000 crore). Exports to China and the US, among the largest markets for Swiss timepieces, fell during the January-September period by 5.9% and 4.1%, respectively.
"We have built our India strategy across three pillars: culture, tradition and religion," he said. "For the sports fans, we launched the Men in Blue collection; for history and tradition lovers, we commemorated India's 75th Independence Day with a limited edition collection in partnership with Kapoor Watch Co. Now, we have come up with this very religious and very emotional timepiece," he said.
Franck Muller will announce its first real estate project in India within the next one month, Baliyan said. The company collaborates with real estate companies to develop ultra-luxury branded residences.
Declining tourist arrivals and sales in the Middle East led the brand to focus more on markets such as India and France, he said. Swiss watch exports to France grew nearly 80% in the January-September period.
"In the Middle East, we don't have tourists coming in like before. There is a decline. So, if I'm not getting the European and Indian tourists in the Middle East, I'm more active in these local markets," said Baliyan. "But, we are invested in the Middle East for the long term, so we are still looking at expanding there at a time like this. We need to use political conflicts to expand the business," he said. Baliyan said while there was a slowdown in China, it majorly impacted brands and sectors that were heavily invested in that market, such as the automobile industry.
"The watch industry is not as impacted in China as others. Other markets such as Singapore and Japan have done well for us in Asia," he said.