How celebrity culture is driving an unexpected trend

Luke BenedictusSeptember 4, 2026 — 11:00amWhy are my 20-year-old daughter and her friends suddenly interested in fancy Swiss watches?Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce: cop the Cartier.InstagramEleven years ago, shortly after the launch of the Apple Watch, I interviewed Jean-Claude Biver who, at the time, was president of LVMH’s watchmaking division. Asked if he thought smartwatches would spell the end of the Swiss watch industry, Biver dismissed the idea. Smartwatches, he argued, would actually prove the ultimate recruitment tool that would “bring the attention of a new generation back to the wrist”.Walking down Melbourne’s Collins Street in May, I recalled Biver’s words when I saw a line of bedraggled twenty-somethings queuing outside the Swatch store overnight in the hope of securing one of the brand’s collaborative “Royal Pop” pocket watches with Audemars Piguet. The scene highlighted how, despite the fact that no one really needs a watch any more and they’re often ludicrously expensive, the popularity of this arcane form of technology endures.From our partners