Ari Berger: “When government and currency are stable in Mexico, people want to spend”

Mexico’s Swiss watch imports rose from CHF 139.3 million to CHF 337 million in the last 5 years according to data from Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH). In fact last year, Mexico became the second fastest growing market after India, for Swiss watch exports.

However, in the first quarter of 2025, this upward momentum slowed down; exports to Mexico fell by 11% compared to the same period last year. The drop came amid growing anticipation of the possible adverse impact of Trump’s tariffs on Mexico’s economic growth as the U.S. is its biggest trade partner.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s recent change in leadership can also be seen as a contributing factor. In autumn 2024, Mexico elected a new president - Claudia Sheinbaum. According to a Deloitte 2025 Mexico outlook report, leadership changes typically bring brief economic slowdown as incoming administrations establish new teams and adjust public spending, triggering consumers to adopt a cautious, wait-and-watch approach.

Ari Berger, Managing Director of Berger Joyeros, who has spent more than 3 decades building one of Latin America’s most prominent luxury watch retail chains, while navigating many such economic and geo-political challenges in Mexico, breaks down the complex dynamics shaping the country’s luxury market opportunities.

What is driving Mexico’s lead in the Latin American watch market?

Ari Berger: Mexico has long been home to passionate and knowledgeable communities of watch collectors. During the pandemic, interest in watches grew significantly, as people had more time to immerse themselves in horology. Since then, demand has grown steadily. A key catalyst has been the strong relations that we’ve cultivated with the local consumer base over several decades. No matter what the market dynamics are, we have always prioritised allocation of special watches to local buyers, which has helped build a resilient domestic market. 99% of our sales come from local customers. Mexico is a popular tourist destination. Yet, we don’t depend on tourism for our watch sales like many other hot tourist destinations in Europe and Asia do.