Patek Philippe has cut prices by 8.6% in the United States.
As WatchPro anticipated in a reported on December 8, the Geneva watchmaker reversed price rises and a cut to dealer margins that were introduced after America increased import tariffs on Swiss watches by 39% in August.
Prices rose by around 15% in the United States on September 15, five weeks after President Trump slapped the punitive 39% tariff on Swiss watches entering the country.
It was the second price rise triggered by the US administration’s tariff policy in six months — the first adjustment followed the imposition of an additional 10% tax in May.
On both occasions, Patek Philippe’s American retail partners also had their margins trimmed on each watch sold so that the pain of the higher tariffs was shared between the manufacturer, its retailers and clients.
Rollercoaster ride for US tariffs
An announcement that US tariffs were to be lowered to 15% was made in December and backdated to November, but a final trade agreement is still be to be signed, and the entire tariff regime by executive order is being challenged in the Supreme Court.
White House officials have suggested rebates could be paid on the higher tariff rates, without elaborating.
Today’s 8.6% price cut, on February 1, in America appears to be part of a worldwide adjustment to restore parity across global markets.
Simultaneously, an across-the-board price increase of 4% has been introduced in the UK.
Before the adjustment, Patek Philippe’s Cubitus Ref. 7128/1G-001 cost around $100,000 in the USA once average sales taxes, which vary from state to state, were added. In the UK, the same watch cost £65,600, the equivalent of $89,440 at today’s exchange rate.
That difference of over $10,000 was intolerable to Patek Philippe, which has acted to close the gap.
Now, the white gold Cubitus costs approximately $90,860, including sales tax in America. In the UK, the new £68,220, including VAT, equates to $93,874. Without a 3% drop in the value of the dollar against the pound in the past 10 days, the prices would have been almost identical on both side of the Atlantic.
Macro-economics, beyond the control of any business, are playing havoc with pricing for luxury watchmakers.
Trump’s tariffs, the steeply declining value of the US dollar and the soaring price of gold, which hit an all-time record $5418 per troy ounce last week before dropping back to just under $5,000 by Friday, are all feeding into calculations.
Patek Philippe has chosen to impose the same 8.6% price rise across both steel and gold watches.
A 40mm Cubitus in gold has seen its price drop in the United States from $92,469, excluding sales tax, to $84,522.
An Aquanaut, ref. 5968A-001, has dropped from $67,574 to $61,766.
In the UK, both watches have risen in price by 4%.
Rolex price rise
Rolex prices in the United States rose by an average of 7% on January 1.
Prices for steel watches rose by around 5.6% while gold references were up by almost 9%.
Given the myriad price pressures impacting Swiss watchmakers over the past year, Rolex’s average price rise of 7% in January might be considered conservative.
However, prices have risen by an average of almost 15% from just one year ago. The average price of steel watches tracked by WatchPro has risen by 10.6% since the end of 2024 while the average gold watch price is up by almost 20%.
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