Gold is often seen as a stable investment that becomes more appealing to investors amid times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, compared with interest-paying assets such as bonds.
Rolex, which produces more than one million watches per year, usually raises its prices once a year. However, swings in currency have spurred it to increase them more frequently over recent years.
Watches of Switzerland, the UK’s biggest luxury timepiece retailer, said last summer that waiting lists for watches were growing longer despite higher selling prices.
Soaring prices have triggered a surge in luxury watch theft, particularly in London. The number of stolen or lost watches has tripled in the last year, according to a recent report by The Watch Register. Of thefts recorded in that period, roughly half took place in London, it said.
According to a Financial Times report earlier this year, Indian chief executives and businessmen have become increasingly concerned about theft when visiting London, raising the issue with shadow foreign secretary David Lammy when he was on a recent trip to New Delhi.
Sales of luxury goods soared during the pandemic and in its immediate aftermath. However, more recently, luxury goods giants have suffered declining sales amid a downturn in China and the removal of VAT shopping for overseas tourists in Britain.
Watches of Switzerland said last month that UK sales fell by 5pc in 2024.
