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Updated Friday, March 19, 2010 11:03 am TWN, Bloomberg

Swiss watch exports rises 14% in Feb. as U.S. shipments reverse decline

GENEVA -- Swiss watch exports rose 14 percent in February as shipments to the U.S. climbed for the first time in more than a year, an industry group said. Exports increased to 1.18 billion Swiss francs (US$1.11 billion), the Swiss Watch Industry Federation said on its Web site Thursday. Shipments dropped 22 percent in 2009, the biggest decline since 1932. Watches accounted for about 7 percent of Switzerland's total exports last year, and the industry employs about 53,000 people. Rolex, Swatch Group AG and Cie. Financiere Richemont SA sold almost half of the world's watches by value in 2008, according to Rene Weber, an analyst at Bank Vontobel AG.

Shipments to the U.S., the market that suffered the most last year, rose 19 percent to 121 million francs after 16 consecutive monthly declines, the trade group said.

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