When it comes to luxury Swiss watches, America is still No. 1 in sales.

The latest figures from the industry group the Swiss Watch Federation showed that while industry sales fell 12.6% in September, US imports actually increased 2.4%, with US market share rising to 17.2%. The federation added the US was “consolidating its position as the leading market for Swiss watchmaking.”

And that popularity was more than apparent at last weekend’s WatchTime NY event, the largest East Coast watch show. Now in its ninth year, the three-day event brought in over 2,500 watch collectors and enthusiasts to the intimate Gotham Hall space, which was packed with 36 international watch brands.

Prestige brands like Blancpain (SWGAY), Chopard, Piaget (CFRUY), and Breguet shared the main floor alongside smaller enthusiast watch houses like H. Moser, Urwerk, Armin Strom, MB&F, Norqain and others.

Though a majority of the brands were of the Swiss or European variety, most, if not all, had one thing to say: The United States was critically important to their brands.

Ulysse Nardin, maker of Swiss timepieces like the Freak, Freak X, and Freak ONE, which won the Grand Prix of Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) award for most “iconic” watch, sees the US market as foundational, especially for watches costing upwards of $20,000.

“The American market is super important for us. I think it's our most important market,” US CEO Fran?ois-Xavier Hotier told Yahoo Finance. “It has to do with the way people look at things. You know, they appreciate what we do, to be bold, to do it your own way. That's something that made America what it is.”

The Freak is no ordinary watch. Essentially, the movement itself is the actual minute hand, and it revolves around the dial to tell time (see image below). It’s a revolutionary-looking mechanism and one that appeals to executives at America’s biggest high-tech firms, Hotier said.

Ulysse Nardin and Hotier also believe their highest-end watches are more immune to factors like uncertain economic conditions or higher interest rates because Nardin’s typical buyer is able to afford such discretionary purchases.

"If I look at the performance in North America, we largely overperform the trend of the industry," he said. "I believe that some brands who suffer today are also brands with a bigger production, a bigger distribution at a lower price point, and very driven by marketing."

Urwerk is another avant-garde watchmaker that sells in even more limited quantities at eye-watering prices. Think production of less than a couple hundred watches a year, with prices ranging from $50,000 all the way up to $250,000 and above.