zurich aug 29 reuters  swiss watchmakers are not seeing signs so far that geopolitical tensions and recession fears are hitting demand for luxury timepieces executives told reuters ahead of the geneva watch days event that opens on monday sales of swiss watches have rebounded strongly from the 2020 pandemic slump with the value of exports up 114 in the first seven months of 2022 for now peoples state of mind stays positive how long will it last we dont know said jeanchristophe babin head of lvmh lvmhpa jewellery and watch brand bulgari he said bulgari was gaining market share seeing much stronger growth in its watch business than the rate of swiss watch exports while there were many reasons to be alarmed over the last two years including the pandemic the war in ukraine and inflation watch exports are nevertheless close to alltime highs edouard meylan head of independent watch brand h moser  cie said we need to take advantage while it lasts but we have to get ready for a slowdown he said adding sales were up by more than a quarter so far this year with some bottlenecks for watch cases and straps around 40 brands will take part in this years geneva watch days an informal industry gathering launched in 2020 where exhibits are held in hotels and boutiques around town making it more accessible than springs exclusive watches  wonders show although not taking part in this years event guido terreni chief executive of niche brand parmigiani owned by the sandoz family foundation said the brand was unable to meet demand that had risen 45 times from last year asked when it would break even terreni a former bulgari executive said were getting there the market for new timepieces remained robust with waiting lists for many models said usbased retailer danny govberg also cofounder and chairman of watch marketplace watchbox echoing comments by british retailer watches of switzerland wosgl this month read more govberg noted however that secondary market prices had fallen the disparity between retail prices and what watches are actively trading for has come down from their early spring 2022 alltime highs since stabilising he said in an emailed comment kepler cheuvreux analyst jon cox said if prices for secondhand watches fell significantly below primary prices this could hurt demand for new watches but that was apparently not the case so far