The watch industry is not shrinking, it is dividing. On one wrist, a growing base of smartwatch owners tracks steps, sleep and messages. On the other, a slower, more deliberate category of analog timepieces is finding a fresh audience that wants something a screen cannot give them: a piece of design they choose once and wear for years.

The Industry

A market worth roughly $135 billion

Independent market research puts the global watch industry at approximately $135 billion in revenue for 2026, with steady single-digit growth expected through the rest of the decade. That number spans everything from mass-market quartz pieces to six-figure mechanical heirlooms, and it is being pulled in two directions at once.

The first pull is technology. Global smartwatch ownership has climbed past half a billion users, driven by health tracking and everyday connectivity rather than timekeeping itself. The second pull, less discussed but just as real, is a return to traditional watches as a design object rather than a utility. Quartz movements alone still account for roughly seven in ten watches sold worldwide, prized for their accuracy, low maintenance and accessible price points compared with mechanical calibres.

Asia-Pacific remains the largest single region for watch demand, and men's watches still make up the bulk of category revenue, though that gap is narrowing as more women shop the same case sizes and finishes once considered menswear. What ties the whole industry together is a simple shift in buying behaviour: fewer people are buying a watch because they need one, and more are buying one because they want it.

The Sector

The rise of attainable luxury

Sit between the two extremes of the market — mass-market fashion watches on one side, heritage Swiss houses on the other — and you find the sector Auren was built for: attainable luxury. It borrows the material language of high horology, sapphire crystal, stainless steel, sunburst dials, screw-down crowns, without the decades-long waiting lists or five-figure price tags.

This middle segment has been helped along by an unlikely source: smartwatch fatigue. Buyers who spent several years wearing a device that needed charging every night are increasingly picking up a second, purely analog piece for the moments when they want to disconnect. At the same time, younger buyers are entering the category earlier than previous generations did, treating a well-made watch as a milestone purchase rather than something reserved for retirement or a promotion.

The pre-owned and resale market has quietly reinforced this shift. As secondhand luxury watches have become easier to buy and sell online, first-time buyers have grown more comfortable thinking of a watch as an asset with lasting value, not a disposable accessory. That confidence flows back into demand for new pieces designed with the same intention: built to be kept, not replaced each season.

The Company

Auren, made for the next chapter

Auren was founded on the belief that the middle of the market deserved better design, not just a lower price tag. The debut piece, the Arc 01, is built around a 40 mm case in 316L stainless steel, finished by hand in a brushed-and-polished combination, and closed with a sapphire crystal chosen for its scratch resistance and clarity. Inside, a Swiss-inspired quartz movement keeps time with the accuracy the category is known for, while a screw-down crown and gasket seal push water resistance to 100 metres.

The Arc 01 ships in three dial colourways, Midnight, Noir and Ivory, each paired with either a steel bracelet or a leather strap, so the same case can move between a desk, a dinner and a weekend without feeling out of place.