Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the world's largest jewelry maker, said five-month revenue gained 11 percent on Chinese demand for Cartier necklaces and Piaget watches.

Sales rose 11 percent from April through August, the Geneva- based company said today in a statement, matching the 11 percent median of 12 analysts' estimates gathered by Bloomberg News. Growth weakened from the first quarter's 13 percent and Richemont said the U.S. market is slowing, while the luxury goods industry faces ``difficult'' conditions beneath the top end of the market.

``A strong set of figures, driven by high end jewelry and watches, particularly from emerging markets,'' said Jon Cox, an analyst at Landsbanki Kepler. ``However, Richemont's comments on the Americas and weakness in entry and mid point levels could send a shudder through the sector today.''

Asia-Pacific revenue increased 19 percent, the maker of Lancel leather goods said. The number of millionaires in the region is increasing more quickly than in North America, where a slumping housing market is weighing on the U.S. economy. Still, the luxury-goods maker's stock has retreated this year on concern industry demand may weaken as more economies slow.

Excluding currency movements, five-month sales increased 18 percent, the statement shows, beating the survey's 17 percent median estimate. First-quarter revenue rose 20 percent on that basis. The company publishes five-month sales on the day of its annual general meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. Geneva time today.

`Difficult Times'

``The American market is beginning to show some signs of a slowdown,'' Richemont said. Sales in the Americas were unchanged because of the dollar's retreat against the euro, and gained 14 percent excluding currency fluctuations. Analysts expected revenue growth from that region of 5 percent and 17 percent excluding currencies, according to the median of five estimates.

The lower and middle range of the luxury goods market is facing ``difficult'' market conditions, while the top end ``has not been affected,'' Richemont said.

``That is not to say that Richemont is immune from a slowdown, but we do believe that we are better placed than many to weather difficult times ahead,'' the company said.

Richemont fell 62 centimes, or 0.4 percent, to 64.6 Swiss francs in Zurich trading yesterday. The stock has dropped 17 percent this year, about the same as the 13-company Bloomberg European Fashion Index.

Asian Economies

The shares also have slid this year because of the dollar's drop against the euro, Richemont's reporting currency, which is holding back growth. The U.S. currency on average was 13 percent lower against the euro during the five-month period compared with a year earlier. Many Asian monies are tied to the dollar.

Swelling Asian economies have propelled China past the U.S. as Richemont's main market, and the company is selling more higher-priced timepieces as millionaires' ranks increase. Hong Kong and China accounted for a fifth of the worldwide total of Swiss watch exports in July, and shipments to those markets were worth 55 percent more than exports to the U.S.

The number of millionaires jumped 20 percent in China last year and 23 percent in India, compared with a gain of about 4 percent in the U.S., according to an annual survey released in June by Capgemini SA and Merrill Lynch & Co.

The jeweler is splitting into a luxury-goods maker and an investment company at the same time that it spins off a 27 percent stake in British American Tobacco Plc to avoid higher taxes. The holding is co-owned by Remgro Ltd., which also is controlled by South Africa's billionaire Rupert family.

The Ruperts set up Richemont in 1988 to hold investments outside South Africa during the apartheid era, when sanctions limited investment in the country. While Richemont, the maker of Purdey shotguns, was intended to be an investment company, the luxury unit now is bigger than its cigarette industry holdings.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Mulier in Geneva at tmulier@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 10, 2008 02:33 EDT