The Watches of Switzerland Group, which made a big splash buying US-based watch website Hodinkee in October 2024, and that has aggressively opened and acquired physical retail locations for years — is now closing over a dozen boutiques.

Which stores are closing has not been confirmed.

What’s clear, is that the luxury watch retailer (one of the biggest in the world), confirmed the news of shuttering 16 stores with the BBC, which you can read here.

A statement from the Watches of Switzerland Group said: “We continually assess our operations to remain as efficient and productive as possible.

Whilst we intend to continue growing our showroom estate organically and by acquisition, following a recent review, we have regrettably made the difficult decision to close 16 showrooms in the UK.

We have also reviewed our support services to ensure we are operating in the most efficient and productive way to power our retail growth and are regrettably proposing that circa 40 roles will be at risk of redundancy.”