GENEVA - Demand for luxury watches is cooling down after the post-Covid boom of 2022, executives said at trade fairs in Geneva this week. Swiss watch exports may continue to rise but the reality is that distributors’ stock is growing and many retailers have become reticent to commit to major orders, they said. The U.S. market, the biggest for many major watchmakers, is a top concern. Rising interest rates are holding back discretionary spending. U.S. consumers have a culture of revolving credit – they buy with their credit card and pay bills later. Rising interest rates mean that for upper and middle classes, luxury products such as watches, jewelry or handbags have become more expensive. On top of weakness in the U.S. market, demand in China is not recovering as fast as analysts expected and social unrest in France is likely to keep tourists away for the foreseeable future.