Seiko is outperforming Swiss giants, thanks to surging U.S. sales
Seiko Group Corporation’s latest financial results show its watch business growing faster and being more profitable than many Swiss peers. In the first half of FY 2025, Seiko Group reported total revenue of ¥160 billion, with the watches segment contributing ¥98.2 billion - up 8.8 % from the previous year.
Operating profit for the watch unit reached ¥15.4 billion, which translates to a margin of around 15%. For comparison, Swiss groups such as Richemont and Swatch Group reported margins of roughly 3% and 4-5% respectively in similar periods.
A huge chunk of Seiko’s momentum comes from strong demand in the United States, where Grand Seiko is still gaining ground in the luxury-adjacent category. Seiko’s strategy of pitching Grand Seiko as a value-driven alternative to Swiss competitors clearly appears to be paying off. Europe is a tough market right now for luxury goods in general, and Grand Seiko’s weaker sales there is similar to the wider slowdown affecting other luxury brands too. However, Seiko’s Prospex and Presage lines still performed well enough to keep Seiko Global Brands in positive territory, as reported by WatchPro via Seiko's new Investor Relations report.
The other major development is quite strategic. Seiko confirmed that Credor, its ultra-high-end line which is typically reserved for the Japanese domestic market, will join Watches and Wonders Geneva in 2026. This is the same path Grand Seiko took in 2010 when Seiko spun it into a standalone global brand - a brand that's now at the table alongside brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Cartier.
Thanks to all this, Seiko seems to be successfully reshaping its identity from mass-market stalwart to a global luxury contender, and this time, the company is backed by strong numbers.
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