The design of traditional wristwatches has remained largely static for centuries. Yet, in increasing numbers, a generation of consumers who view flip phones as hopelessly dated are opting for traditional time-keeping devices.

That’s not to say Millennials and Gen Z consumers, along with suppliers, haven’t adopted smartwatches, but the analog business is retaining its appeal—in large part through licensing. For example, 52% of Millennials own at least one analog watch and 18% own more than one.

The use of licensed brands, especially fashion labels, has a long history in watches. Movado recently launched Calvin Klein watches, breaking the brand’s 22-year partnership with Swatch. Fossil, meanwhile, recently reported a 16% increase in total fourth-quarter revenue with traditional analog watches posting a 39% gain. That increase was largely due to the strength of sales of licensed Diesel, Michael Kors, and Armani Exchange brands, said CEO Kosta Kartsotis. And Movado reported a 15% increase for the fourth quarter and 44% ($732 million) for the year. More importantly, annual sales were up 4.5% from 2019.

The total market value for watches is expected to increase 6.7% annually through 2024 to $75.8 billion.

Recent growth was partly driven by price increases—15% in the case of Movado—tied to rising costs for shipping and materials.  Watches priced $1,000 or more were 20% of Movado’s annual revenue and sales are expected to rise to $780-$800 million in fiscal 2023, CEO Efraim Grinberg said. Movado’s sales of licensed watches rose 11% in the fourth quarter and 40% for the year, driven by Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, and Hugo Boss brands, the latter of which was recently renewed through 2026. Movado is also introducing a Jennifer Lopez analog watch this spring along with a co-branded Lacoste/Minecraft model. The Calvin Klein watch is expected to be sold through 2,500 stores with a major focus on Europe and the Middle East, Grinberg said. Swatch posted a 30% increase in sales ($7.8 billion) in 2021 and is forecasting double-digit percentage gains this year.

“The overall traditional watch market has stabilized somewhat and our demand signals and some outside consumer research indicates, that it will continue to grow for the foreseeable future,” Kartsotis said. “For us, we are seeing particular strength in our largest brands [including] Fossil, Kors, and Armani, and we see major opportunities for them to continue to grow and gain share in the global marketplace.”

The market for analog watches has also been driven by several smaller, non-licensed brands including Oak & Oscar, Kapten & Son, MVMT (a crowdsource-funded company that was sold to Movado in 2018), and Daniel Wellington. These watches carry nostalgia-tinged names like “Classic,” in the case of Wellington models, and marketing is driven by social media—especially Instagram—to meet Millennials on common ground. But don’t mistake the analog looks for throwback prices—The MVMT models are priced between $1,400-$2,800.

Indeed, the traditional watch market is “much healthier and growing” with Mainland China and India proving to be “vibrant markets” supplying “much bigger opportunities into the future,” Fossil Chief Financial Officer Sunil Doshi said.