Business News: Oris CEO Doubles Down On Value Amid Challenging Markets

After not meeting in person for several months, one doesn’t start a conversation with Rolf Studer talking about business. You will get there, but only after some genuine pleasantries. Affable and quick to smile, while most certainly Swiss in his professional focus and determination, the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Oris first offers some highlights from his long-time favorite holiday spot in Italy, with photos to illustrate. Then, we are on to discussing this winter’s backcountry skiing season in Switzerland. Studer’s phone is replete with pics of him skinning up mountains and then skiing down with his dog.

The shared desire to revisit these rare respite moments is welcome and expected. These are uncertain and tough times for the Swiss watch industry. The Hölstein, Switzerland-based family-owned company, founded in 1904, came to Watches and Wonders this year with a refreshed branding image that is subdued while featuring a lighter color palette. Most notable, however, Oris released just one new set of models for this year’s salon.

Thoroughly covered by TanTan in his excellent Introducing article (complete with live pics and pricing), the bold new colors of the dials in the pictures were perhaps not the most surprising element of the story. Instead, it was the aggressively reasonable pricing of three of the new Big Crown Pointer Dates that grabbed attention. Driven by a Sellita movement, they are listed at just CHF 2,000, or about $2,300, on a steel bracelet. The Pointer Date complication is a watch that Oris has continuously produced since 1938.

Studer says Oris wanted to differentiate itself from the trend of Swiss brands continuously hiking prices, as some consumers push back. “It’s very clear that some customers feel a little betrayed by some brands with their pricing,” Studer says. We are in a good position because we have this substance within us to make a watch for the enthusiast at a price that is somewhat normal. “

In fact, Studer says “normal” might be his favorite word at the moment. Battered by inflation, economic, and political uncertainty, the world feels anything but business as usual. These days, the concept of “normal” is aspirational.

To be sure, Oris also moved up the value chain during the boom times of the post-pandemic era. It produced higher-priced models with in-house designed movements, such as its titanium ProPilot X Kermit with the Oris caliber 400 that proved a hit. Yet the brand still kept its base-priced models in the catalogue. “It was always important to me to keep that basic line with that normal price point. In order to remain relevant as an industry, your product must be obtainable by a certain number of people. Relevance also comes from quantity; it comes from mass. If you lose that critical mass, you lose cultural relevance,” Studer says.

What worries the Oris Co-CEO more is the potential loss of cultural relevance for the Swiss watch industry, particularly the decline of industrial capacity. He says that financially troubled parts and components suppliers are paying the price for big brands’ cancelled orders as they shift to lower volume and higher price strategies.

“We see this happening already with the big groups buying smaller suppliers. If they were not in trouble, they would remain independent,” Studer says. Like much of the Swiss industry, 2024 was challenging for Oris. As demand slowed, it had to access Switzerland’s so-called short-time work program for some workers as it throttled production, and sales declined.

This year started strong, with wholesale sales up by double digits and the brand’s limited-edition releases gathering solid demand. That was all before the Trump administration’s surprise slap of 31% tariffs on Swiss goods, including watches, threw consumer sentiment in the U.S., Oris’ biggest market, into doubt. The tariffs have now been paused while a deal is sought, but a 10% levy and an uncertain U.S. consumer remain in place.

Studer says now is the time for the Swiss watch industry to return to “normal” pricing and raise volumes to maintain the critical mass of customers that makes the estimated $50 billion industry culturally and economically significant.

“The topic of value and substance has new relevance,” he says. “Our brands will have to offer more value with what they do.”

For more information about Oris, head over to their website.

​Hodinkee 

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