Time for change: How luxury watchmakers are embracing innovation | CNN

Last year was a difficult one for many luxury brands. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, 2025 was a “year of significant uncertainty,” with exports down for the second year in a row. Some analysts framed it as a correction to the post-pandemic boom, but economic realities have seen luxury watchmakers looking to innovate, in an industry characterized by tradition. Ilaria Resta took over as CEO of Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet at the end of 2023, just as the market “started changing significantly in comparison to the post-Covid era, where there was this euphoria to buy anything luxury,” she told CNN at the Watches and Wonders trade show in Geneva last week. She pointed to the impact of China’s economic problems, the rising cost of gold, and US tariffs. “It was really a perfect storm of lots of things happening,” Resta said. “That was a challenge, but at the same time, it was a blessing in disguise,” she added. “It was a moment of pause and reflection, of, ‘how do we evolve in the next few years?’” Audemars Piguet (AP) sells watches ranging from around $30,000 to well over $300,000. The company celebrated its 150th anniversary last ye