Life is getting more and more expensive, and so are watches

I am lucky to still pursue some of my favorite watches. But rising prices aren’t just about energy and food. It’s happening to everything, including luxury items like watches. Now, luxury watches are always expensive. Brands happily raise their prices every year, and 2023 is no exception. Some brands even had additional increases last year as a currency correction due to the euro’s weakness.  
Let’s take a closer look at some brands that have announced price increases or have already increased their prices. We will start with OMEGA. For example, exactly two years ago, the current Speedmaster Professional was launched at 6,100 euros for a steel version with a Hesalite crystal and a steel case back.
Of course, we need to compare apples to apples. It makes no sense to compare the prices of long ago with those of today. Remember that watch brands are constantly evolving their offerings. The Submariner and Speedmaster of today are not the same as they were 15 years ago. This, of course, applies to many watch models.
Now, the thing is, price increases are not new. We basically have these updates every year. Over the last 12 months and the next 12 months, the increases are probably greater than we’ve used to. After all, for these watchmakers, wages, energy, transportation, etc., are going up, just like for any other business. For some replica watches, the price increase doesn’t even matter because, due to high demand, you can’t buy them anyway. However, the introduction to this article may sound familiar.
In many parts of the world, life is rapidly becoming increasingly expensive. In 2022, we see a 10% inflation here in the Netherlands. And the bad news is that, as always, we don’t know how or when it will end. This could mean people will spend their money more carefully, cutting costs on things they don’t need, like luxury goods.
These price increases will affect those who earnestly need to save up for luxury watches. Higher prices will make reaching their watch goals more difficult for these people. In addition to the brands mentioned above, we will see many other brands follow suit with their (annual) price increases. A few brands have also recently raised their prices and may wait a while before making another round of price increases.