At a Swiss Fair, Rolex Will Showcase Everything but Watches

(Photo credit: Comptoir gruérien)

At the few watch fairs where Rolex exhibits, visitors are often willing to travel thousands of miles to see the brand's latest releases alongside historic pieces from its archives. But later this year, Rolex will take part in an exhibition unlike any it has ever staged. It will contain no watches.

The project, which is expected to attract even more visitors than Watches and Wonders, will be held not in Geneva, Dubai or Shanghai but in the Swiss countryside, in a region better known for dairy farms, medieval villages and Gruyère cheese than luxury watches.

Still, organizers expect more than 100,000 visitors over 10 days at Espace Gruyère in Bulle, an annual regional fair that will bring together more than 200 exhibitors. For the first time, Rolex's booth won't be nestled among Patek Philippe, Vacheron and Cartier but will share the exhibition hall with local sports clubs, Fribourg's cantonal bank, regional utility companies and businesses from agriculture, insurance, retail and timber.

For Rolex, the appearance is not about showcasing its latest products but about using a 300-square-meter stand to present itself as an employer and industrial neighbor, highlighting its history, the vast manufacturing campus rising in Bulle, and the trades and training programs that support its operations. Rolex is planning on opening a new watchmaking training center in Bulle.

Scheduled to run from Oct. 22 through Nov. 1, the exhibition is the latest sign of Rolex having to think beyond watches, as it expands deeper into the local economy, especially as it seeks to recruit thousands of workers for one of the largest industrial projects currently underway in Switzerland — in what is likely the most rural setting for a Rolex manufacture yet.

For Rolex, Defeat Can Be Part of the Story

Jannik Sinner. (Credit: Roland-Garros via YouTube)

One of Rolex’s top Testimonees and the dominant force in men’s tennis, who had been on a 30-match winning streak, lost in just the second round of Roland-Garros on Thursday, in a Grand Slam tournament heavily promoted by the brand. In a post-match news conference, Jannik Sinner, who was wearing a Daytona, said he had felt dizzy in the Paris heat. Images of the world No. 1 tennis player bent over on the clay in apparent pain and exhaustion spread across sports media. At one point, Sinner was in such a bad way that he left the court for treatment.

Still, a Rolex's top Testimonee's early elimination is not entirely negative for the brand image. Since 2025, when Rolex changed its tagline to "Reach for the crown," it adopted a new philosophy that makes a deliberate effort of showing the struggles Testimonees faced before achieving success. "Reach for the crown" only matters when it reflects the long road taken to reach it, including the setbacks along the way.

When unveiling the tagline, Rolex showed Tiger Woods dropping to his knees not in triumph, but in searing pain at the 2013 Barclays after a shot headed dead left into an algae-covered water hazard 40 yards from the green. “That’s basically when I broke my back,” Woods later said in another Rolex-produced video describing his back injury. “That was a very dark and difficult time,” he said.

Rolex's new tagline is an interesting departure from its earlier slogans. For hundred years, from Mercedes Gleitze’s channel swim to “Men who guide the destinies of the world wear Rolex watches,” and more recently “A crown for every achievement,” Rolex highlighted only the success while eschewing the struggle that preceded it.

For Rolex, this week’s images of Sinner struggling to keep the ball in play, growing dizzy as cramps crept up his legs and crouching at the back of the court may prove as valuable as a clip of him lifting the trophy with a Daytona on his wrist. Under its new marketing philosophy, such scenes are part of the story of success and will likely find their way into future Rolex films.

As Rolex Heists Spread, Even Switzerland Becomes a Target

Boutique in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. (Credit: 20Minutes)

The smash-and-grab Wednesday night in one of Switzerland’s most polished Alpine resorts, allegedly carried out by a 21-year-old suspect who rammed a stolen car into a Rolex boutique, is the latest sign that a Rolex store in the Alps now faces many of the same pressures as one in London or Paris.

The young man, who was tracked down by a police K9 unit after authorities launched a major search operation and found the stolen vehicle abandoned on the side of the road, highlights a paradox Rolex increasingly faces. As the brand reaches record levels of desirability and exclusivity, its retail locations have never become more attractive to criminals, even in a country known for discretion and low crime.

Social-media algorithms are exposing young viewers to luxury watches more than ever while a K-shaped economy keeps youth unemployment and cost-of-living pressures high in parts of Europe. The burglary in the Swiss town of Crans-Montana reflects a trend previous Rolex CEOs did not necessarily face. As the brand’s desirability reaches new highs, criminals are equipped with smartphones that have instant access to market values, resale premiums and WhatsApp groups. The heist came less than two weeks after the Audemars Piguet x Swatch “Royal Pop” release sparked mob scenes, pepper spray, store closures and arrests at malls.

But the latest incident may also strengthen the argument for Rolex’s growing preference for large flagship boutiques over smaller regional stores. Bigger locations can justify multi-million-dollar investments in reinforced façades, controlled entrances, private security, surveillance systems and secure inventory handling that smaller boutiques often cannot economically match.

In a Push Beyond Western Social Media, Rolex Joins Japan’s Dominant App

(Photo credit: Rolex via LINE)

After WeChat, Weibo and Douyin, Rolex has joined another major social network in Asia, this time Japan’s largest, a sign the brand wants a more direct relationship with Japanese customers without relying on Western or Chinese platforms.

By joining LINE, Rolex is gaining unprecedented access to one of Japan’s largest communication systems in a country known for its deep culture of watch collecting. The app was launched after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami exposed the fragility of traditional telecommunications networks during emergencies. It quickly evolved into a digital ecosystem that includes payments, shopping, news and entertainment. LINE’s penetration is estimated at more than 80% of Japan’s population, with around 99 million monthly active users, while the service also remains dominant in markets such as Taiwan and Thailand, regions that remain critical to luxury watch demand, as China’s economy remains sluggish.

(Data: Humble Bunny)

For Rolex, being part of a Japanese platform matters because the country’s social-media landscape is unusually fragmented compared with the U.S., with different services dominating different forms of online behavior. In terms of overall influence and daily penetration, LINE ranks ahead of all social media platforms in Japan, including YouTube and Instagram. Rolex's decision to join LINE but to remain absent from TikTok, Snapchat, Discord and Reddit is another sign the watchmaker carefully chooses where it maintains a presence, preferring channels where brand image remains polished.

Rolex’s Biggest Partner Posts Record Year Fueled by U.S. Market

Watches of Switzerland Group share price (GBX), last 6 months. (Data: LSEG)

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) last week reported record revenue for the financial year. The U.S. is now the majority of both sales and profit, with U.S. revenue reaching $1.24 billion, up 24% year over year. Chief Executive Officer Brian Duffy called that “a major milestone” achieved eight years after the company entered the U.S. market.

Two months before the results, in March, Coronet highlighted WOSG’s stock potential, arguing that one of the few ways to ride Rolex’s extraordinary performance was through its largest publicly traded retail partner. Since then, WOSG shares have surged more than 50%.

The argument in these pages has been that the U.S. market remains highly fragmented and WOSG is among the few retailers with the resources to consolidate part of Rolex’s network, a model now favored by the brand. Rolex has been consolidating distribution around large, well-capitalized partners capable of investing in multi-million-dollar flagship boutiques, such as WOSG’s new Bond Street location. In the U.S., a similar trend is emerging as mom-and-pop retailers close and supply shifts toward larger partners capable of building dedicated Rolex boutiques. It is still this magazine’s view that WOSG’s expansion runway in the U.S. is underappreciated, even after its latest acquisition, Deutsch & Deutsch in Texas.

While WOSG shares fell in 2023 following Rolex’s announcement it would acquire Bucherer as investors feared the brand would favor its newly owned retailer, that has not materialized. For Rolex, weakening a century-old partnership with WOSG, the largest luxury watch retailer in the U.K., would make little sense, especially as Rolex has shown no interest in acquiring additional retailers, a position confirmed by its CEO last November.

Now that the U.S. represents the majority of both sales and profit, Coronet believes WOSG would do well to move its stock market listing from London to the United States. A U.S. listing could attract more investors, increase analyst coverage and support a higher valuation.

A Wildlife Explorer Joins Rolex’s Celebrity Universe

Bertie Gregory. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex's newest Testimonee is Bertie Gregory, an award-winning wildlife explorer, filmmaker, photographer and one of the youngest cinematography winners in BAFTA history. This is great news as Coronet has argued for more explorers and fewer athletes in Rolex’s roster, which now tops 150 Testimonees — the majority of them golfers — making it the largest ambassador lineup of any watch brand. Rolex first partnered with Gregory in April 2025, when he received the coveted Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year award. But it was only this year that the brand officially added him to its roster of Testimonees. (Gregory is wearing a black-dial Explorer II, this reporter’s daily watch.)

Gregory’s most recent project is Secrets of the Bees, produced by James Cameron, another Rolex Testimonee. It is not the first time Cameron has backed Gregory’s wildlife documentaries, which have covered everything from penguins to whales, sharks, pumas and cheetahs in some of the world’s harshest environments. Gregory said Cameron, himself an avid beekeeper, took a particular interest in the latest film. Beyond filmmaking, Gregory also leads a conservation impact campaign aimed at turning attention into action, including on social media, where he has more than one million followers on Instagram alone. His appointment is the latest sign of Rolex’s effort to strengthen its image around exploration, not just celebrity and sport, as the brand enters its next century.

Rolex Set to Release New Roland-Garros Campaign

Time standing still. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex is gearing up for the second Grand Slam tournament of 2026, when the world’s top tennis players return to Stade Roland-Garros in Paris on May 24. Rolex will soon release a promotional clip titled “Rolex & Roland-Garros: History Written in Clay,” which opens with the line: “Welcome to Paris. The matches tend to be epic.”

It was 12 months ago that two Rolex Testimonees, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, contested the longest final in the tournament’s history, lasting 5 hours and 29 minutes. A day earlier, fellow Testimonee Coco Gauff claimed her first Roland-Garros singles title. It was a strong weekend for the brand, as tennis players do not wear watches during matches, only if they lift the trophy.

The new Rolex video, currently unlisted on YouTube, features the Land-Dweller in Everose gold, marking the first time the brand’s newest Classic collection has appeared in a sports promotional clip. The Land-Dweller has quickly become one of Rolex’s most sought-after models and currently commands higher secondary-market premiums than any model, including the Daytona, according to data from WatchCharts. The brand also places the Land-Dweller at the very top of its “Rolex watches and accessories” page, ahead of even the Day-Date.

Rolex Leans Into Storytelling With a Touring Exhibition

An attractive field at the “Oyster Story” exhibition. (Credit: That Watch Podcast)

Rolex might not have a museum, but it is making use of its rare collection of vintage watches by exhibiting them around the world. Reservations for Rolex’s new “Oyster Story” exhibition in Shanghai became available on Monday on its official website, after the display debuted at Watches and Wonders Geneva. The exhibition is becoming a tradition following last year’s showcase of rare GMT-Master models, complete with thematic panels and a documentary film.

The exhibition, which will take place next month and will likely make several stops throughout the year, is Rolex’s latest attempt to stimulate demand in the region as the luxury industry faces headwinds in Asia. Swiss watch exports to China have fallen -34.8% in two years, according to the latest data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.

The traveling display is another example of how Rolex continues to lean on its adventure-filled history, even as the brand moves further into luxury. This push-pull between tool-watch storytelling and high-end positioning is not unique to Rolex. Each year, Swiss brands ship fewer but more expensive watches, according to export data. Still, as Rolex’s catalog grows more opulent, the brand is also intensifying its storytelling through books, exhibitions and long-form videos.

“The exhibition explores Hans Wilsdorf’s founding intuition,” Rolex said. “It reveals how his pioneering vision, which shaped the identity of Rolex and the world of watchmaking, is carried forward today through numerous technical innovations and the many partnerships forged by the brand.” The exhibition opens June 10 at the Shanghai West Bund Dome and runs through June 28. Admission is free, though reservations are required.

After 100 Years, Rolex Experiments With a New Kind of Watch Case

Rolex lightens up. (Photo credit: Rolex)

According to a patent published Wednesday, Rolex may be rethinking how it has built watches for the past century with a radically different case construction. Instead of machining the case from a solid block of metal, Rolex proposes a composite architecture built around a rigid “skeleton” filled with inserts made from another material. Rolex says the goal is to create a watch that is lightweight, durable and visually appealing.

The patent, which was first discovered by Nick Gould, is the latest sign Rolex is investing in composite case technology, potentially for future ultra-light watches or high-performance models. The comparison with Richard Mille, which has helped legitimize ultra-light, high-tech composite watches in haute horlogerie, is difficult to avoid.

“In summary, the invention makes it possible to combine two major objectives ... that had not previously been achieved,” the patent read. “It allows for the creation of a component that is both lightweight and mechanically robust, while also being aesthetically attractive.”

The patent is interesting because Rolex appears to be exploring materials rarely associated with the brand’s typical case construction. The skeleton — the frame supporting the crystal, caseback, bezel, crown and bracelet — could be made from titanium, titanium aluminide, ceramic or other metals and composites, while the inserts may use high-performance thermoplastics.

This is not the first time a watch brand has used composite materials. But most composite watches still rely on traditional case construction inside, whereas Rolex appears to be rethinking how the entire watch case is built. The patent goes beyond using composites for the exterior shell, with a new architecture built around a rigid frame and fused inserts, closer to aerospace engineering than watchmaking.

What Rolex’s New Video Reveals About Its Next 100 Years

The new face of adventure. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Just one day after its release, Rolex’s new video celebrating 100 years of the Oyster is already among the most viewed on the brand’s 14-year-old YouTube channel. With 33 million views in 24 hours, it places third in Rolex’s massive content library, which nears 1,000 uploads. At 23 minutes, it is also one of the brand’s longest videos, a format now favored by YouTube’s algorithm as more viewers consume content on TV screens, where audiences are less likely to skip advertisements.

In the final minute of the video, which beautifully recounts the history of the Oyster and its century-long legacy of adventure and exploration, the voiceover looks to the future, saying there “always will be new boundaries to break, worlds to discover, history to be made. And Rolex will be there, standing alongside the next generation of pioneers.”

But the rapid-fire montage tied to those remarks has little to do with pioneers, pilots, divers or polar explorers breaking boundaries or discovering new worlds. Instead, it shows tennis players, golfers, skiers, actors, musicians, equestrians and yachtsmen — celebrity athletes basking in victory. Rolex’s “next generation of pioneers” is making history at Wimbledon, in Augusta, at the Oscars and in concert halls worldwide.

In the next 100 years, it is hard to imagine Rolex not leaning further into sports and exclusivity, as it now counts a record 153 Testimonees and sponsors more elite sporting events than ever. Since 2025, it has also included actors for the first time. The only explorer shown in the final montage is filmmaker James Cameron during his Mariana Trench expedition 14 years ago. Since then, Rolex has stopped supporting exploration for discovery’s sake, focusing instead on exploration tied to protecting the planet, an important and laudable goal for its next century.

Still, those planet protectors, from Alain Hubert to David Doubilet, Sylvia Earle or Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, account for less than 10% of Rolex’s overall roster of Testimonees. If the brand wishes environmental exploration to define its next century, it may eventually need to give such figures a more central role than that presently occupied by Roger Federer, Zendaya or the PGA Championship.

The Rolex Pepsi Boom Is Already Cooling

Popping the bubble. (Data: WatchCharts)

The market consensus seems to be that the Pepsi is not gone for long. Or at least that buyers’ willingness to pay meteoric prices has quickly reached a ceiling after the model’s discontinuation less than a month ago. That’s according to the latest data from WatchCharts, which show Pepsi prices are now trending down.

Rumors of its discontinuation began circulating at the start of the year, driving secondary prices higher, as reported in these pages. The stainless steel 126710BLRO, by far the most popular of the trio, saw the biggest gain, while the two white gold variants appreciated as well. Older Pepsi references also benefited from the discontinuation rumors, WatchCharts said.

Now, prices of the Pepsi references have started to decline, a sign the market may have overestimated the model’s desirability following the discontinuation. The resurrection of the Yacht-Master II just two years after it was removed from the catalog has also eased fears that the Pepsi will be gone for long. WatchCharts said the number of listings steadily shrank from early February through the mid-April announcement, as buyers feared missing out and dealers stocked up on pieces ahead of Watches and Wonders, removing even more inventory from the market. New Pepsi listings hit an all-time high in the seven days following the discontinuation announcement, as sellers rushed to capitalize on the news. But the sudden surge in supply is now having the opposite effect, pushing Pepsi prices lower.

In Rolex’s Growing CPO Market, Premiums Are Coming Down

Rolex CPO premiums at key retailers. (Data: WatchCharts)

Rolex’s Certified Pre-Owned program is bigger than ever, topping 10,000 watches in inventory for the first time since launching in 2022. While some existing RCPO locations were closed by multi-store retailers, the number of boutiques offering CPO continues to grow.

According to data released this week by WatchCharts, CPO premiums have been trending lower over the past year. Those premiums are now near, or at, 15-month lows, a sign that retailers are adapting to the economics of the competitive pre-owned business, where margins are generally thinner, making inventory turnover more important.

“In the long term, we expect average premiums to come down if RCPO is to grow in scale and ubiquity,” WatchCharts says. The RCPO market now represents just 2.7% of Rolex’s estimated retail value, a sign of how much room there is still for growth.

The CPO premium is an estimate for how much more expensive a watch is when listed by a Rolex CPO retailer compared to a traditional secondary dealer. The hierarchy of premiums among key retailers has remained largely unchanged, with Bucherer and Watches of Switzerland having the highest premiums, followed by Tourneau and The 1916 Company.

Rolex’s Curious 'Haplos' Trademark Filing

(Photo credit: Rolex)

It’s not unusual for Rolex to register dozens of soundalike trademarks, names like “Datejuster,” “Master-Datejust” or “Coast-Dweller,” not with the intent to produce new models, but to protect its nomenclature from imitations. These filings are a form of brand defense, shielding names closely tied to the Rolex identity.

But the brand’s decision last week to register “Haplos,” a name that is not a riff on anything in the current lineup, is worth writing about. When researching the Greek-sounding word, I mostly ended up on biblical Greek websites, where translations range from “simply” and “in short” to “singleness” or “sincerity.” It is also the title of a 1982 Filipino horror movie, though that connection seems unlikely.

“Haplos” sounds easily brandable across languages, something Hans Wilsdorf himself would likely have approved of. When it comes to naming new technologies, Rolex tends to favor portmanteaus rather than poetic standalone Greek words: Dynapulse, Cerachrom, Chromalight, and Everose, to name a few. And with a catalog already full of dormant names like the Milgauss, Tru-Beat or even the recently trademarked “Padellone,” it seems unlikely the brand is preparing yet another entirely new watch line.

Which brings us back to the strange design filing for a desk clock first reported in these pages. Rolex has made desk clocks before, but they were typically desktop interpretations of existing watches, like the Submariner desk clock, the Air-King or even a Datejust seen on the Resolute Desk last fall. The new desk clock looks nothing like an existing Rolex, appearing to be a skeletonized watch module resting on a triangular incline, almost architectural in form. Come to think of it, the structure itself does evoke something vaguely Greek.

Rolex’s LIV Golf Problem

A delicate touch. (Photo credit: Rolex)

In January, just ahead of the new LIV Golf season, LIV published a press release announcing a partnership with Rolex, mentioning the 2026 schedule “beginning with the opener in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from February 4–7.” The press release included a quote from Arnaud Boetsch, Rolex Director of Communication and Image. But LIV Golf has yet to display Rolex as a partner on its website, and Rolex does not list LIV among its golf partnerships, even after a total revamp of Rolex.com just before Watches and Wonders.

The development comes as LIV Golf, which reportedly loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year, now faces the possibility of closure. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has financed the league since its 2022 launch, is nearing the end of its support as it faces tighter finances after years of weak returns, heavy spending and now the war in the Middle East.

LIV Golf is a direct competitor to the PGA Tour, with which Rolex has spent decades building relationships — perhaps one reason for LIV absence from Rolex.com both in its “Rolex and Golf” section and in the biographies of the nine Testimonees who joined the league. Phil Mickelson’s profile, for example, highlights his 45 PGA Tour victories but makes no reference to his current league, four years after joining it. The same is true for Jon Rahm, who moved to LIV in late 2023.

Rolex has spent nearly six decades building golf into its largest sports empire, sponsoring more players than in any other sport, and it’s unclear whether the brand is pulling away from the Saudi-backed league as doubts grow over its future. The league has been controversial from the start, with critics describing it as a Saudi “sportswashing” project in the wake of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

When Mickelson joined LIV Golf in 2022, he lost major sponsors — including KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday — after comments he made describing the Saudis as “scary motherfuckers to get involved with” and mentioned the kingdom’s “horrible record on human rights.” Rolex, however, decided to keep him as a Testimonee.

Rolex's Professional Line in a K-Shaped Economy

Rolex’s newest Daytona. (Photo credit: Rolex)

One of the hardest Rolex watches to buy, the Daytona, saw a new reference released at Watches and Wonders this year. For a model mostly in steel, it carries a price tag of $57,800 before tax. And because it is off-catalogue, the client will need to spend significantly more with an official retailer to be eligible to buy it.

Despite global tensions and economic uncertainty, Rolex is leaning into exclusivity, catering more and more to a K-shaped economy where those at the top continue to do well — and increasingly so. It is also canceling decades-old contracts with local retailers and building flagships in major cities, where high rollers can compete on spending history.

Meanwhile, the brand continues to market its watches through a professional lens. In the press release for the $57,800 Daytona, we learn it is “designed to meet the needs of professional racing drivers.” The Yacht-Master II, which now tops $20,000 for the steel version, is “specifically for regatta starting sequences.” Rarely in business has a brand so rooted in professional products moved so deeply into exclusivity.

I received an email last week from someone who reminds me of the old Rolex ad: “If taming oil well fires were your job, you'd wear a Rolex.” Tom currently works in the oil and gas industry on the coast of Louisiana and is also an emergency response firefighter. “We use our watches in the field and on oil rigs, in heavy weather or in areas with electrical classifications that do not permit non-explosion-proof devices,” Tom told me. “I use my Submariner every day, not just as a keepsake to celebrate a milestone, but as a reliable tool.”

From explorers and pilots to those “who guide the destiny of the world,” Rolex rests on a history that other businesses could only dream of. Today, Rolex's strategy is to take its catalogue of iconic designs and dial up the exclusivity through luxury upgrades. As a business model, Rolex is not wrong to lean into the K-shaped economy. But if it wants that story of professional use to continue, it must ensure that those who use its watches in the field, like Tom, remain part of it.

As Rolex Builds Flagships, Bucherer Gains More Ground

(Photo credit: Luc Jacquemin)

Rolex will open a new major store in Paris, the latest in a string of flagships from Asia to Europe. It will be its fifth Rolex-exclusive boutique in the French capital, but the first run by Bucherer, the latest sign the brand is turning to its own retailer to operate new flagships.

Rolex may not be giving preferential treatment to Bucherer in its allocations, as some feared when the brand announced it would acquire the Lucerne-based retailer in 2023. But it is building more flagships run by Bucherer while canceling the licenses of independent dealers located too close to these stores.

Wempe in Paris could be at risk of losing its Rolex license, as it did on Bond Street in London and on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, where its multi-brand stores sit too close to newly built Rolex flagships. Galeries Lafayette Royal Quartz on Rue Royale, another Rolex retailer, could also be at risk.

Until now in Paris, Rolex’s exclusive boutiques have been run by Dubail on the Champs-Élysées and Place Vendôme, while those on Rue Pierre Charron and Rue de Sèvres are operated by Arije and the Lassaussois family. The new boutique, just approved by City Hall last month, will be a two-story location on the corner of Rue Royale and Rue Saint-Honoré, near the Tuileries Gardens.