Citizen and Seiko Both Became EUR 1 Billion Watchmakers in 2025

While we often publish articles in our Industry News section, those are mostly focused on the financial results of Swiss and/or European brands and groups, by looking at major actors such as the Swatch Group, Richemont or LVMH, the exports of Swiss Watches, or estimated rankings by Vontobel and Morgan Stanley/LuxeConsult. What we have never done so far is to look at the results of two of the main giants of the watch industry, Japanese conglomerates Citizen and Seiko. However, this year, their results are truly significant, as both watch divisions have broken the EUR 1 billion barrier, outperforming the performance of most Swiss or European watchmakers. 

As a comparison, if we take a look at the reports published by Vontobel and Morgan Stanley/LuxeConsult earlier this year, only a handful of Swiss watchmakers are reporting sales over EUR 1 billion – namely, at least according to the estimates published by the two research entities, it includes Rolex, Cartier, Omega, Patek Phillipe, Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, Longines and Vacheron Constantin. Most of these are, at the minimum, categorised as luxury watchmakers if not high-end, ultra-luxury brands. If Citizen and Seiko are reporting sales that are on the level of the lower-tier of this list, the revenues are made through volumes and not by unit price. Unfortunately, the level of production of these two groups remains an undisclosed piece of information. What is public, though, are the consolidated results of the year ended on March 31, 2026.

Let’s start with the Seiko Group Corporation, a conglomerate that includes the watch division – Grand Seiko, Credor, King Seiko, Seiko Prospex, Seiko Astron, Seiko Presage and Seiko 5 Sports – as well as the production of movements for third parties. Two other activities are included in the report, namely Device Solutions and System Solutions (integrated circuits, printing devices, electronics, and IT infrastructure).

Back to watches, the watch division of the Seiko Group Corporation reported sales at JPY 203 billion in 2025/2026, equivalent to EUR 1.1 billion at today’s exchange rate. More impressively, the group reported an increase of 27% of sales over the last fiscal year, when Swiss watch exports were down by 1.7% in 2025. This significant increase is said to be driven by strong sales on the domestic market (thanks to a low local currency, beneficial to tourism) and strong growth on the US market. This applies to both Grand Seiko and Seiko Global Brands, in particular Prospex and Presage. As for Europe, and despite the continued slump in the luxury goods market, GS remained flat YoY, while Seiko Global Brands performed well in major countries.

As a final word about the Seiko Group Corporation, the financial report indicates that the mid- to long-term goal is for “GS to achieve a top-10 position among global luxury watch brands,” and for Seiko Global Brands to “achieve a leading share in the global mid-priced watch segment.”

Now let’s take a closer look at Citizen Watch Co, a group including Citizen and Bulova (Frederique Constant, Alpina, La Joux-Perret, Angelus and Arnold & Son are not included in this report). Overall, the group reported sales at JPY 346 billion, including JPY 197 billion for the watch division, equivalent to EUR 1.07 billion at today’s exchange rate. The group, like Seiko, includes additional activities (machine tools, devices and components). Over the past fiscal year, the watch division of Citizen Watch Co has grown by 10%, with an operating profit up by 38%.

Citizen indicates that the “revenue in the domestic market increased as recovering domestic demand offset a decline in sales to inbound tourists,” for Citizen, while Bulova remained strong on his core North American market. In Europe, “mechanical watches remained popular in various countries, with performance in Italy and France being steady.”

Overall, it is particularly interesting to see the positive evolution of these two giants of the watch industry, located on the other side of the planet and benefiting from their own internal ecosystem, while the traditional side of the watch industry, located in Europe, sees its sales declining according to the Swiss Federation of the Watch industry and external researchers.