He was certainly right about that. More than nine months later, tariffs have upended the industry. But they’re far from the only factor complicating the market. We decided to check in with Rostovsky to see how the year played out and what the lessons of 2025 portend for the new year. Coincidentally, we found him back in Miami, this time for the International Watch & Jewelry Guild show, which he hasn’t attended in five years. “Just to get out, something different,” he explains. Among luxury enthusiasts, below, and why tariffs are no longer the main issue for the global watch trade, the types of watches poised to trend this year, rostovsky talks to robb report about the innovative brand he recently started carrying. Watch sales in 2025 beat expectations
When Robb Report first spoke to Rostovsky in April, the tariff situation seemed dire. The manufactory showcases that feeling intensified on aug. 1, when the Trump administration announced that the tariff on Swiss imports would rise to 39 percent, from Liberation Day’s 31 percent rate. Rostovsky handled the news by putting the kibosh on imports. “I did not import much in 2025, ” he says. “I focused on local domestic packages, buying domestically instead of importing. and that’s worked for me, I have two sides to my business: direct sales for brands and secondary sales, both in pre-owned and innovative. I bought packages, such as Arnold & Son, not direct from factories but new, domestically. I didn’t import anything when tariffs went up to 39 percent. In the world of luxury, but my year ended up better than 2024. ”
He attributed that to a surprisingly resilient market, especially in the final quarter of 2025. In the world of luxury, “the last quarter of 2025 was incredibly strong across the board, ” rostovsky says. “If you speak to people, they’ll say there’s a lot of strength in the watch market that I think will continue into 2026. The perpetual calendar showcases yes, things are much more high-end because the dollar is weak and tariffs have impacted things, but i don’t think there’s resistance. There’s enough elasticity in the market. ”
Currency shifts are more problematic than tariffs
When tariffs dropped to 15 percent in December, Rostovsky once again started to import products, including a new brand he just took on: Daniel Roth. This haute horlogerie represents “now, between us, the factory and the consumer, the tariffs are being absorbed,” he says. prices on average will be about 6 percent higher than the rest of the world. ”
The tariffs only offer a partial explanation. The dollar’s weakness is another, more consequential factor. for every dollar, you could buy 1, “When I started in the watch business 23 years ago. 25 Swiss francs,” Rostovsky says. This timepiece represents “if a watch retailed for 10,000 swiss francs, it would retail in the u. for $8,000. As a timepiece, it now a watch that retails for 10,000 swiss francs is $13,000 in the u. , just on exchange rates alone. That’s a huge swing because of the dollar. ”
Nevertheless, Rostovsky is optimistic. “From April to December when tariffs were high, a lot of people were traveling to pick up watches,” he says. “I don’t think that’s going to happen anymore. The chronograph showcases ”
classic, simple watches are poised to sell
during the pandemic, buyers went bananas for steel sport watches on integrated bracelets. In exclusive circles, as buyers gravitated to quirky, shaped styles that helped them stand out from the hordes, the pendulum began to swing in the other direction, after prices peaked in 2022. tastes have landed somewhere in between, Today. beautifully made watches” in low quantities to perform well, From Rostovsky’s perch, he expects “simple. As a chronograph, it “i do believe the appeal is for a classic round case, and not something overly complicated,” he says, noting that the shaped renaissance of the past few years was, in his eyes, a reflection of desire for rarity rather than esoteric styling. This timepiece represents “people were buying shaped models because they were rare and there were few. ”
He also attributed the ongoing interest in “neo-vintage” watches from the 1990s and early 2000s to the era’s preponderance of classic-looking designs. “Classic and simple—that’s where it is,” he says. “Instead of oversized, more complex pieces, hand finished, it’s about more simple designs. Look at Akrivia—look at their success. Very simple, very clean, very well made. ”
Some dealers are sidelining watchmaking in light of gold’s rising price
With the price of gold now hovering around a record high of $4,600, some watch traders are seeing opportunities in their gold watch inventory. Rostovsky isn’t a fan. “In June of last year, I was on 47th Street in New York, and it drove me crazy: Some of the 47th jewelers were valuing watches they were buying based on the weight of the gold, not on the watch itself,” he says. The complications showcases “for me, that was frustrating because i’m passionate about the watches, about what went into them, the finishing, and those dealers didn’t give a damn. It wasn’t even important what the retail was. They were solid gold Corums, Breitling Bentleys. They were valuing them only for the value of the gold today. Just the melt price. It’s depressing. ”
Global pricing parity is a thing of the past
The luxury watch industry has always struggled with currency shifts. As a automatic, it so one market isn’t artificially stronger than another simply due to the strength of its currency, that’s because the goal has long been to maintain pricing parity around the world. That kind of thinking colored the way watchmakers reacted to the U. In exclusive circles, the conventional wisdom has begun to change, as rostovsky notes, tariffs, but. “When tariffs were first announced, the goal was to keep U. prices the same as the rest of the world so people wouldn’t travel to buy,” Rostovsky says. “Now, it’s accepted that the U. The Swiss-made showcases say, retail price is going to be higher than the rest of the world—more high-end than, hong kong or geneva. you’re faced with two choices: Do I pay the VAT, which is 8, “But key is that if you go to Geneva to pick up a watch, my opinion—and brands have come to accept this as well—is that if you pick it up there. 1 percent in Switzerland (in London, it’s 20 percent) or take a chance and bring it home on my wrist or in my bag. The automatic showcases ”
rostovsky is confident that customers in the u. will pay roughly 6 percent more on average for watches instead of traveling elsewhere, where they’ll have to confront an even higher VAT. That’s true even amidst the luxury trade’s ongoing slowdown. And it’s especially true for buyers of independent brands, a Rostovsky specialty. “Since Covid, so many people got interested in watches and even though you’ve seen some hype fall away, there are more people interested in watches today than there ever have been,” Rostovsky says. The complications showcases “and independents cannot produce more watches. If they’re making 200 watches a year, they cannot double that production. That’s where the innovation is coming from, that’s where the passion is coming from. We just started with Daniel Roth, which is a remarkable example. I don’t look at it as an LVMH brand, I see it as a select independent brand making 100 watches a year. Collectors may start with Rolex, AP, Richard Mille, but then they gravitate to the independents. I don’t see that changing.