Hermès expands watchmaking factory in Switzerland despite sector decline

More powerful than ever with 15.2 billion euros in revenue in 2024, Hermès announced on Monday its plans to expand its watchmaking factory in Le Noirmont, Switzerland. This expansion is set to eventually accommodate one hundred new employees, a move that comes despite the company witnessing a drop in its watchmaking segment sales in 2024.

By 2028, the Hermès watchmaking site in Le Noirmont, in the Swiss Jura, will have a total surface area of 11,000 square metres. This expansion will allow the French house to strengthen its production capacity and consolidate control of its value chain.

Previously, the Le Noirmont site housed the case manufacturing of Joseph Erard SA, a historical partner of Hermès, acquired in 2013. In 2012, the luxury group acquired the watch manufacturer Natéber SA, specialising in dials and based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The company brought these two activities, dial and case making, together in Le Noirmont in 2017.

Hermès watchmaking segment reported decline in 2024

Watchmaking is not the most important segment for Hermès. It recorded a 4 percent decline in growth in 2024, unlike the house's other businesses. This decline continued throughout the first quarter of this year. At the end of March 2025, the group indicated in its financial report that watchmaking (down 10 percent), like perfume and beauty, had not returned to growth. The expansion of the Swiss site represents a way for the house to strengthen this segment through bold creations, the result of exceptional craftsmanship.

In May 2025, Swiss watch exports fell by 17.4 percent to China; 10.5 percent to Japan; and 12.6 percent to Hong Kong, according to figures released by AFP. In Europe, exports decreased by 14.5 percent to the UK; 18.1 percent to France; and four percent to Germany.

Hermès expands factory operations across segments

The announcement of the factory expansion follows a series of extensions and creations of production sites: the house's leather goods site in Charleville-Mézières; the leather goods factory in Colombelles (Normandy); the one in Loupes (Gironde); and the Manufacture Beyrand, a subsidiary of the group since 2017, dedicated to tableware and located in the Ardennes.

In the uncertain economic and geopolitical context, the group indicated last April that it was "approaching 2025 with confidence", relying, among other things, on its vertical integration strategy focused on craftsmanship. The group's consolidated revenue amounted to 4.1 billion euros in the first quarter of 2025, up 9 percent at current exchange rates and 7 percent at constant exchange rates.

The Hermès Group has a network of nearly 300 stores in 45 countries and employs 25,185 people worldwide, including 15,556 in France (in 2024). The company has been headed since 2013 by Axel Dumas, a member of the sixth generation.