LVMH Jewelry, Watch Sales Down 5 Percent So Far This Year

Paris— LVMH’s watch and jewelry sales slipped again in the third quarter against a backdrop of global economic and political uncertainty and continued weakness in China.

The Paris-based luxury conglomerate reported Tuesday that third-quarter sales in its Watches & Jewelry division totaled €2.39 billion ($2.60 billion) compared with €2.52 billion ($2.74 billion) a year ago, a 4 percent year-over-year decline on an organic basis.

Year-to-date, LVMH’s watch and jewelry sales have totaled €7.54 billion ($8.21 billion), down 5 percent year-over-year (3 percent on an organic basis).

In the release announcing the results, LVMH called out a few of its brands.

It described Tiffany & Co.’s new “Tiffany Titan by Pharrell Williams” collection as being “exceptionally well received,” and said Chaumet enjoyed “high visibility” over the summer because it designed the medals for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.   

Tiffany & Co. also continued to roll out its new concept stores in major markets while celebrating the 50th anniversary of Elsa Peretti’s designs for the jeweler.

Bulgari celebrated 140 years with the celebrity-filled “Eternally Reborn” campaign and a new collection, “Bulgari Tubogas,” which took cues from the tubogas jewelry it created in the 1940s.   

LVMH also noted that watch brand TAG Heuer will be involved in its new 10-year global partnership with Formula 1, announced earlier this month.

As a whole, LVMH’s third-quarter sales totaled €19.08 billion ($20.8 billion), a decline of 3 percent on an organic basis.

The results fell short of analysts’ expectations, causing the luxury conglomerate’s shares to drop 7 percent on Wednesday.

In the first nine months of the year, sales have totaled €60.75 billion ($66.15 billion), essentially flat year-over-year, with sales of Fashion & Leather Goods—considered the company’s key division—Wines & Spirits, and Watches & Jewelry all on the decline. 

Both the company’s Perfumes & Cosmetics and Selective Retailing divisions have seen sales increase, though only nominally. 

Selective Retailing includes Sephora, Le Bon Marché, and the DFS duty-free stores in airports.