Rado bets on India: Why the Swiss watchmaker’s boss Adrian Bosshard sees unstoppable growth in a booming luxury market

Rado, the Swiss watch brand that is part of the Swatch Group, is bullish on India. India became the brand’s largest market in 2023 as exports to China declined due to the slowdown. Adrian Bosshard, CEO, Rado, was in India recently to launch the DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan – a reinterpretation of a classic watch with the futuristic design ethos of British industrial designer Tej Chauhan.

In a freewheeling conversation with Fortune India, he spoke about the importance of India, Rado’s strong roots here, impact of brand ambassadors, and watch trends, amongst others. Edited excerpts.

How important is India as a market for you and do you expect it to keep growing?

India was always an important market for Rado, but during the last few years it has become even more important because we have seen that in a lot of countries, the economy is challenged, especially in China and of course also in in Europe. On the other hand, we have seen the Indian economy move at great momentum. The young population is ambitious and aspirational. And this is the perfect driver for the luxury industry. And since Rado is an important part of the luxury industry in India, we see it as the perfect environment for the future. India already contributes to double digit sales for Rado and we expect it to grow in double digits too.

Also, we see that the share of Indian customers in our travel retail accounts globally is constantly growing, both at our boutiques at airports and also at tourist destinations such as Interlaken and Lucerne [in Switzerland].

What are your expansion plans in India? Will you be looking at a stronger online presence?

In terms of brick-and-mortar distribution, it’s very clear that we will not change our strategy – that is, we will continue to strengthen our boutique experience. We have around 33 boutiques all over India, and we will slowly increase this, both at airports and tier-1 cities, but also in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

The boutique experience, is the best environment to transfer the uniqueness and the value of the product and the brand to the end consumers. So, there we see the biggest importance and also the biggest opportunities. On the other hand, we will also, evaluate and work on e-commerce offers. But it must be as per our qualitative expectations. When you touch and feel a watch, try it on, it’s very different than buying it online. However, e-commerce has a certain relevancy to be an alternative distribution channel. But it’s not at all a first priority for us. Our aim is to bring the customer into the store, and give them the Rado experience there. Our share in multi-brand boutiques will also decrease because we will do more in our boutiques. Multi-brand stores will remain especially relevant in smaller cities.

You first had Hrithik Roshan and then Katrina Kaif as the face of the brand. Does having a Bollywood celebrity as a brand ambassador really add to sales?

Hrithik and Katrina are loved by millions of people, and our ambition is to bring the premium wear experience of our watches closer to more and more customers. It is without doubt a communication platform. The kind of brand awareness that we have in India, we don’t need to work on a brand awareness level. We need, of course, to work on communicating the new products to our audience through these Bollywood stars.

We have been in India for a very long time. We found an import documentation from 1956. We also had a servicing centre. So, we have very strong roots in India. Indians know Rado.

Would you be looking at an India-specific collection?

We launched a special edition with Hrithik Roshan sometime back but we don’t do region or country-specific collections. We are a global brand producing watches for a global customer. The Indian luxury customer also has global tastes. Of course, we make some adaptations. For instance, Indian customers have a high affinity to golden watches, both rose gold and yellow gold. So our collection in India focusses more on these colours as compared to Europe or China.

Do you think smartwatches are a threat to the traditional watch industry?

Not really. Of course, a wrist is a wrist. When an end consumer has the choice to buy a watch, they can decide to choose a smartwatch or a traditional watch. Today the watch is not just an item to read the time. Even a mobile has the time on it. The watch is a status, it’s an artwork. It creates a particular emotion for the wearer. When someone has even a little bit of an idea about the amazing work that goes behind creating the small automatic movements which remain precise for decades, they appreciate it and are fascinated.

I believe wearing a smart watch is better than nothing on the wrist. After a few years when he/she realises that the smartwatch is providing interesting functions but has no soul, no emotions, they will buy a real watch with emotions as a commitment to themselves. Of course, I am coming from Switzerland. The first thing we look at people is the eyes and then the wrist. You can know a little bit about the people when you see what kind of watch they are wearing!

What trends will dominate the watch industry in the coming months?

Customers are searching for uniqueness and individuality. While classic pieces continue to be iconic, they are looking for something different too. Women have understood that not only jewellery but a watch can be an important accessory too. The women’s segment is growing. Globally, 50% of our customers are women. In India, it’s 35-40%. They are buying both women watches as well as unisex watches. Almost 40% of unisex watches are sold to women.

In India we see a large demand for mechanical watches. Despite the fact that mechanical watches are less precise than quartz. Also, people are appreciating the value of ceramic. In our price point, we are the only ones working with ceramic.