Rolex Builds a 30-Story Flagship, but Plans to Occupy Only Half

Sky-dwelling. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex announced last week that its new 30-story flagship at 665 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan will open this fall. Rolex will not occupy all 30 floors, but will use about half of the building and lease out the rest. In a statement, Luca Bernasconi, CEO of Rolex Watch USA, said the tower “will serve our team and tenants.”

“New York City and Fifth Avenue, in particular, have long been crucial to Rolex in the US. The Rolex Building at 665 Fifth Avenue is a clear expres­sion of our enduring commitment to this city: a beautiful example of modern architecture that will serve our team and tenants, as well as welcome clients for decades to come,” he said.

The 165,000-square-foot building will include a multi-level Rolex retail space topped by office floors, along with amenities such as a restaurant and event space. A number of floors above Rolex’s offices will be available to select tenants, including Angeles Wealth Management, which will move in this fall.

Rolex’s new building is part of a new trend in luxury, a flagship arms race of sorts, to develop prominent sites. LVMH plans to demolish its building at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue to construct a new flagship, a move reportedly influenced by Rolex’s project. Meanwhile, Kering has agreed to buy the retail portion at 715–717 Fifth Avenue. Prada is planning a tower at 724 Fifth Avenue, with a store at the base and offices and condominiums above. Having an address on the Champs-Élysées or Fifth Avenue is no longer enough. Brands like Rolex want larger, more visible flagships, a shift often reported in these pages.

Rolex’s Latest Teaser Hints at a 100-Year Special Edition Watch

Not a wait time, hopefully. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex this morning released a 16-second teaser clip ahead of Watches and Wonders, continuing an annual practice of publishing brief preview videos on the Friday before the event. The latest installment is in line with the length of past teasers but shorter than typical Rolex clips.

The clip offers little product detail, as about five seconds are devoted to Rolex Testimonees, with the remainder centered on a single theme: the 100th anniversary of the Oyster Perpetual. Previous teasers typically showed a wider range of watches.

Rolex plans to mark the milestone with a special edition watch, an interesting twist for a brand that has most times played down anniversaries. In a brief frame, the words “100 YEARS” appear printed on a dark dial of what seems to be an Oyster Perpetual with a gold bezel.

It’s unclear what material is used for the rest of the watch, though a full-gold version seems unlikely based on the portrait version of the clip, which shows some grey below the bezel. Still, viewers who saw the teaser in portrait mode (Instagram) may have missed the green minute markers visible in the landscape version (YouTube), an interesting detail.

Green marker under the 7 o’clock. (Photo credit: Rolex)

In Golf, Rolex Stands by Its Enfant Terrible

Uncut. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Few know that Rolex’s sponsorship of golf began with a simple gentleman’s handshake in 1967, when it partnered with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, known as the Big Three.

The Masters Tournament, a Rolex-sponsored event that begins Thursday, will be missing one of Rolex’s biggest Testimonees, who hasn’t exactly behaved like a gentleman recently. Tiger Woods, whom Rolex calls “a living golf legend,” said he is “stepping away” from the sport after last month’s car crash, in which he rolled his vehicle, and a DUI-related arrest.

While Rolex is protective of its image, it appears to have kept the golf legend as a brand ambassador, at least for now. In 2010, several brands, including AT&T and Gillette, decided to drop Woods after he admitted to a pattern of affairs following another car accident amid intense tabloid and mainstream coverage. No other Testimonee has had such high-profile scandals — though Rolex has shown it can drop them when needed.

In Jan. 2024, Rolex confirmed it had cut ties with Alexander Zverev, a German tennis player, shortly before he was set to face a public trial in Berlin for allegations of domestic abuse involving his former partner.

Woods, however, who has remained on Rolex’s roster for 15 years, seems a favorite. Despite his record of reckless behavior, including cheating on his wife and driving impaired, he has reached a level of loyalty at Rolex rarely seen in sports sponsorships, a sign of how much the brand values legacy among its Testimonees.

The Curious Case of the White-Gold Submariner

Value retention of unworn Rolex models in white gold. (Data: Chrono24)

The price of the white-gold Submariner, reference 126619LB, is worth writing about because it has declined in an unusual way on the secondary market for such an iconic model. Prices now trade well below retail, in some cases by a wide margin even for a precious-metal Rolex, based on data from the largest online watch marketplace.

According to Chrono24, which has visibility into actual sold prices on its platform, not just list prices, the average sold price of an unworn Submariner in white gold stands at $42,000. That means a drop of roughly $10,000 from retail, or about 19%, for a watch resold immediately after purchase. The discount widens to a staggering 25% once the watch has been worn. Some may say white gold and steel are too similar in appearance, but it is a fate not necessarily shared by other references.

Still, the 126619LB may be lacking something other white-gold pieces are not, a distinctive dial. In this price segment, where beauty and visibility often drive demand, the Submariner’s restraint may be working against it. It has been six years since Rolex discontinued the Hulk, whose sunburst dial is now highly sought after. In Coronet's opinion, that dial was even more interesting than the blue dial of its white-gold contemporary, which was discontinued the same year.

Last year, Rolex introduced a left-hand-drive GMT in white gold. Because the black and green bezel is reserved for such GMTs, the brand could only change the dial when making the white-gold version, and it made for a more interesting piece. The Submariner should be next.

A reimagined white-gold Submariner. (Design: Coronet)

At Its Largest Project Yet, Rolex Closes the Skies to Drones

Crown control. (Credit: Canton de Fribourg)

Drone flights over Rolex’s new construction site in Bulle, Switzerland, are now banned after cantonal authorities imposed a no-fly zone at the brand’s request. No-fly zones are usually associated with safety-critical infrastructure or national security, such as airports or events like the G7 summit. It is unusual for a luxury brand, which typically relies on visibility and publicity, to restrict outside views even as it works to generate buzz around a CHF 1 billion project, its biggest to date. There are about 1,000 workers on the site.

The decision, which was published Friday in the Feuille officielle du canton de Fribourg and issued by the Directorate of Security, Justice and Sport, reflects what authorities described as a heightened security environment around a “relatively sensitive” construction site. Police are authorized to intercept, disable and seize any drones that violate the restriction. The ban applies to unmanned aircraft weighing under 30 kilograms and will remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2032, unless lifted earlier at Rolex’s request.

The brand’s request to ban drones was filed last month and is the latest sign of the level of interest surrounding Rolex and its newest manufacture, at a time when attention on the largest luxury watch company is greater than ever. Rolex said it had observed “une augmentation préoccupante” in drone activity since work began, describing the devices as a potential danger to both personnel and corporate security, including the risk of unauthorized image capture. The site has also previously been the target of malicious activity. In May 2025, during the night of May 2 to 3, the Rolex construction site was burglarized, with more than 100,000 Swiss francs worth of equipment stolen.

Rolex to Turn German Headquarters Site Into Hotel and Restaurant

Rolex Germany headquarters in Cologne, in an undated photo. “ROLEX” lettering has been removed. (Photo credit: Raimond Spekking)

Rolex USA will unveil its new Manhattan headquarters this fall, a multi-year project that replaced an older building with a new 30-story tower. In Germany, however, rebuilding its Cologne headquarters has proved more complicated than on Fifth Avenue.

Rolex Deutschland GmbH, the wholly owned subsidiary responsible for distributing Rolex products across Germany, had planned to demolish and rebuild its headquarters in Cologne, as reported by Coronet. Rolex Deutschland has been based in that city since 1956 and in its current building since 1983. The site, located between a 17th-century church and the main train station, required approval from the city’s design advisory board. The board repeatedly pushed for revisions, including reducing the building’s size to better fit its surroundings, a sign of the city’s reluctance to approve changes that reflected Rolex’s vision for the site.

In January, Rolex decided to scrap the demolition plan, despite previously arguing the building was outdated and failed to meet modern safety and accessibility standards. The brand cited sustainability and said it was exploring renovation and "alternative uses," a move that worried residents Rolex’s headquarters would leave Cologne. But a spokesperson for Rolex reaffirmed the brand's long-standing commitment to the city, saying: "Rolex Deutschland remains loyal to the city of Cologne, our home for over 70 years."

At the same time, Rolex Deutschland was moving its 150 employees to Deutz, a district across the Rhine. The brand did not indicate that the new location, on the outskirts of Cologne, was temporary or permanent. But it now appears Rolex has decided to abandon plans to rebuild its headquarters in the historic property next to the 17th-century church altogether. Rolex said the site will be turned into a hotel and restaurant, a plan more likely to receive approval from Cologne’s advisory board.

Rolex, Out of Formula 1, Still Bets on Its Drivers

Nyck de Vries. (Photo credit: Formula 1)

Nyck de Vries is Rolex’s newest Testimonee, a fact he hasn’t disclosed on his social accounts yet, though his signing is confirmed by the brand. It is the latest sign that, while Rolex may have exited Formula 1 as a series sponsor, it continues to sponsor Formula 1 drivers or former drivers of the series.

This is an interesting strategy for Rolex, as its motor-sports sponsorship has become a balancing act for a brand placing greater emphasis than ever on protecting the planet, and concerns grow over the sport’s carbon footprint. It exited Formula 1 in 2024 following a dispute over contract length, as first reported by Coronet, with F1 seeking a 10-year renewal and Rolex unwilling to commit beyond five.

Rolex still sponsors F1 legend Jackie Stewart. A Rolex brand ambassador since 1968, Sir Jackie Stewart is Rolex’s longest-standing relationship in motor sports. More recent names in Formula 1 include Mark Webber, a Rolex Testimonee since 2017; and Jenson Button, since 2022.

De Vries, a 31-year-old from the Netherlands, is the first driver signed by Rolex since the brand left Formula 1. He made a points-scoring debut with Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix and then competed for the AlphaTauri team the following season.

Beyond Formula 1, he has also competed in the electric series, winning the Formula E world title in 2020–21. He continues to race today in Formula E and is part of the Mahindra Racing team this season. He has recently been seen wearing a Rolex Submariner with a green bezel. For Rolex, by sponsoring a Formula E champion, the Perpetual Planet brand maintains ties across categories, particularly in clean energy.

Beyer, a Historic Rolex Partner in Zurich, Is Sold to Patek Philippe

Time moves on. (Photo credit: Beyer)

Rolex will soon lose one of its closest partners, Beyer Chronometrie. The Zurich retailer, in business for 266 years, is being sold to Patek Philippe following the death last year of René Beyer, the eighth generation of the family-run boutique founded in 1760. Beyer’s ties to Patek date to 1842, making it one of the longest relationships in the watch retail industry. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung was first to report the news.

Widely regarded as the world’s oldest authorized watch and jewelry retailer, Beyer has worked closely with Rolex since 1932. In the 1950s, founder Hans Wilsdorf gifted a yellow-gold Day-Date to René Beyer’s grandfather in recognition of his support. For Beyer’s 250th anniversary in 2010, Rolex created a special platinum Day-Date sold exclusively through the store. René Beyer died unexpectedly in April 2025; neither he nor his sister, Muriel Zahn-Beyer, had heirs.

Rolex could have been a buyer but is unlikely to pursue the deal after acquiring Bucherer, which already operates on Bahnhofstrasse. Chief executive Jean-Frédéric Dufour has said the company does not plan further retail acquisitions.

Patek Philippe will secure a prime location on the famous Bahnhofstrasse when the deal closes in about nine months, acquiring a three-floor boutique — which includes a museum whose collection will remain with the Beyer family.

A Way to Invest in Rolex Without Buying a Watch

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

Watches should not be considered an investment, so the saying goes. Jean-Frédéric Dufour has said he did not like when people compare watches to stocks. “Nous fabriquons des produits, pas des investissements,” he said in 2024.

But if investors want to reap the benefits of Rolex’s incredible performance today — including its CPO program, whose success has exceeded expectations — they could do worse than looking at Rolex's biggest partner, Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG). With over 200 showrooms, the publicly traded retailer accounts for roughly half of Rolex sales in the U.K.

While WOSG’s stock fell in 2023 on fears that Rolex would favor its newly acquired retailer, Bucherer, that has not materialized. For Rolex, harming its century-old partnership with the largest luxury watch retailer in the U.K. would be self-defeating, as Rolex doesn’t want to expand its retail footprint further. In general, Rolex has been consolidating distribution toward large, well-capitalized partners that can invest in multi-million-dollar flagship boutiques, like the new Bond Street location run by WOSG. In the U.S., the same pattern is emerging, as more mom-and-pop retailers are closing and supply is shifting toward preferred partners that have the wherewithal to build larger Rolex boutiques.

The U.S. market remains highly fragmented, and WOSG is one of the few retailers with the financial resources to consolidate some of the Rolex network, a model favored by the brand. It expanded Mayors from 17 stores to more than 30 after acquiring the U.S. retailer in 2017. The purchase of Betteridge added four Rolex doors in Greenwich, Aspen and Florida in 2022. Earlier this year, WOSG expanded in Texas through Deutsch & Deutsch, adding four more showrooms.

WOSG will likely expand its U.S. foothold through further acquisitions, with Rolex favoring more multi-level experience boutiques. These boutiques now include a CPO floor, as the pre-owned market is growing multiple times faster than primary sales, a program where WOSG has already surpassed Bucherer.

Rolex Tidies Up Its Website, and Its Message, in Time for the Big Reveal

(From Rolex.com)

Less than three weeks before Watches and Wonders, Rolex gave its official website a fresh coat of paint.

The changes are mostly cosmetic. The brand removed the green banner atop its webpages in favor of white, a cleaner look that competes less with dial and bezel colors and pushes the imagery forward. Navigation is a bit simpler, too, with subsections appearing within the menu, allowing visitors to go directly to specific areas without leaving the page. A new “Featured” section highlights both watches and technical elements, such as the bidirectional rotatable bezel of the Yacht-Master, alongside members of the Rolex family.

The menu also reflects a shift in how Rolex frames its sponsorships. It now groups “Sports, Arts and Planet” under a single heading, essentially bringing performance, culture and responsibility under one umbrella. Previously, “Rolex and sports” and “Perpetual Initiatives” were separate links.

Rolex typically uploads its new collection at 8:30 a.m. Geneva time on the first day of Watches and Wonders, which begins this year on April 14. But in 2025, Rolex surprised everyone by uploading the collection at exactly 12:01 a.m. The change came not from Rolex, but from Watches and Wonders, responding to requests from several brands aiming to hit the printing press before deadline while capturing both the U.S. market (late in their day) and the Asian market (just starting theirs).

(From Rolex.com)

The Milgauss at 70, and What We Now Know About Rolex’s Magnetism

(Photo credit: Jake’s Rolex World)

Many online have tried to imagine what a new Milgauss would look like, as Watches and Wonders approaches and speculation builds around its 70th anniversary. Introduced in 1956, the Milgauss was made for scientists working in power plants, hospitals and research labs. Its name combined the French word for thousand with the unit of a magnetic field.

But since 2005, when the blue Parachrom hairspring was introduced, Rolex’s movements have been largely insensitive to magnetism beyond 1,000 gauss, putting a question mark on the model’s raison d’être. The line was discontinued just three years ago.

Rolex does not disclose its watches’ anti-magnetic properties. But for the first time, a clue may be found during the Land-Dweller’s development, when Rolex engineers compared its anti-magnetic properties with the rest of the collection. The Land-Dweller’s balance wheel is made from a lead-free copper-zinc alloy with silicon. Switching to this material raises resistance to about 40,000 gauss, up from roughly 25,000 gauss with the typical balance wheel used in current models, made of copper, beryllium and iron. All that according to Rolex engineers who conducted the testing, marking the first time modern Rolex watches’ anti-magnetic properties have been revealed. The findings were published in a patent filed four years ago.

At Watches and Wonders, Rolex is unlikely to treat the 70th anniversary as a reason to reintroduce the Milgauss. Still, the Land-Dweller gave us a glimpse into the resistance of Rolex watches today, which the brand does not publicize, though it is about 10,000 gauss higher than Omega’s.

Excerpt from a 2022 Rolex patent in French revealing the anti-magnetic properties of modern Rolex movements.

At the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a Longtime Family Voice Steps Down

(Photo credit: Fondation H.W.)

One of the eight board members who oversee Rolex’s dividends and decide how roughly half a billion francs in annual donations is distributed among nearly 10,000 applicants has stepped down. More importantly, he was appointed by an heir to the Hans Wilsdorf family.

La fondation Hans Wilsdorf has traditionally reserved two seats for family representatives, giving the family essentially a quarter of the power over how Rolex’s capital is managed. Hans Wilsdorf, who had no children, named the family of his nephews, Diether Kübel and Hans-Helmut Kübel, as his heirs.

Kurt Weissen, a professor at the University of Heidelberg, was appointed by the family to represent its interests on the foundation’s board. He is stepping down after 26 years. He is affiliated with the university’s Center for European History and Cultural Studies and has written extensively on 15th-century Florence. Mr. Weissen held a seat that has historically gone to a German-speaking academic chosen by the family. His predecessor was Professor Wolfgang Stromer von Reichenbach, also a specialist in the Renaissance.

The other family-designated seat remains held by a descendant. Following the two Kübels, who served consecutively until 1996, the role passed to Heinrich Ulrich Martin Kübel and later to Anita Kübel, who still serves today.

The Two Pricing Systems Inside Rolex

Retail and resale. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Recent rumors of a Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi discontinuation, which sent prices up by several thousand dollars in a matter of days, are a stark reminder of the two distinct paths to pricing chez Rolex. One is set by the brand through official retail prices, typically based on production costs, positioning and material value. The other is set solely by buyers and sellers, in a market where supply and demand dictate value.

That second path operates completely independently of retail pricing and material cost. In one example, a stainless steel Daytona retails for $16,900 but trades near $30,000 preowned. Its Rolesor version retails $24,000 but resells for roughly the same price, despite its higher intrinsic value. A Rolesor Daytona commands no premium, while a steel Daytona’s MSRP increase would have almost no effect on its secondary value.

Few industries are like Rolex, where watches with entirely different pricing dynamics can sit just feet from each other at official retailers. Prices in one display case are set by Rolex; in the other, by supply and demand, regardless of intrinsic value. At the whim of the brand, production can stop even if a model is in high demand. Conversely, the brand can reintroduce a line, putting pressure on prices for models thought to be discontinued. This process will play out again next month, as it does each year, when Rolex reveals its new catalog.

Now that Rolex benefits from secondary-market price swings through its wholly owned Bucherer’s CPO program, it stands to gain by playing the market. The brand could release a new Pepsi this year without discontinuation. But it may be better off discontinuing the model, then reintroducing it two years later to capitalize on the hype created by both moves, something it did with the yellow-gold Daytona with a green dial.

Thank you to Sébastien Page for the idea for the story. Follow him here.

As Rolex Integrates Bucherer, Early Signs of Change Appear

Crown control. (Photo credit: Expedia)

Someone inside Bucherer is speaking to Inside Paradeplatz, and it makes for fascinating reading. Inside Paradeplatz is a fairly large blog fed by business rumors from Switzerland’s finance world. It is run by former business reporter Lukas Hässig, whose prose is reminiscent of yellow journalism. And though Bucherer, the Rolex-owned retailer, is based in Lucerne rather than Zurich’s Paradeplatz, Mr. Hässig has written two stories about it just this past week.

In his latest story, published Friday and already viewed nearly 30,000 times, Mr. Hässig said Bucherer has cut 20 positions at its headquarters, “including senior executives on the sales front, in marketing, and in the design and social media departments,” he wrote, speculating Bucherer's CEO Guido Zumbühl might be next, according to another inside source.

While his sources are unnamed and reader’s caution is advised, it is not far-fetched to think Rolex’s integration of Bucherer brings its own challenges and has entered a more disciplined phase. The report said Rolex is frustrated with Bucherer’s difficulty upgrading its IT system, an investment expected to reach 15 million francs.

Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour said at Dubai Watch Week last November he is not interested in buying another retailer, describing the experience as a learning curve for the brand. “We have no intention of growing further than that. It was an opportunity, and we had to do it. Now we are maybe understanding the retail business a little better, and that is a good thing,” he said.

Mr. Hässig in his report claims the layoffs are because of tepid sales at Bucherer. When the most successful luxury watch company in history acquires a retailer with more than 2,000 employees, cuts at the top may be because of brand control as much as sales. Rolex’s image today is its most valuable asset, and Bucherer’s reputation reflects on the watchmaker.

With more than 60 locations worldwide, Bucherer is now a public-facing extension of Rolex. Whether the cuts are driven by sales or strategy, we won’t know. But if Inside Paradeplatz's reports are accurate, Rolex is shaping Bucherer in its own image, which is ultimately a win for the client.

A Rolex Patent Offers a New Vision for the Yacht-Master II

Rolex said the Dynapulse escapement was the result of nearly 10 years of development. It would be interesting to know what the brand has been working on over the past five years that we will see in the next five.

Meanwhile, in the shorter term, a patent published in 2023 for a new kind of countdown chronograph, after several years of research and development, has yet to surface, even as Rolex’s only countdown watch, the Yacht-Master II, has been discontinued. Coronet first reported on the patent in 2023.

While the Yacht-Master II required the wearer to use multiple parts of the watch, such as the Ring Command bezel and even unscrewing the crown to program the countdown, this new design simplifies the process by relying only on the pushers.

Unlike standard chronographs where pushers have unique roles, this movement uses a sequence-based logic of presses to cycle through modes, switching from programming to starting, stopping and resetting. The movement relies on a column wheel and a series of levers to determine whether the pusher resets the timer or adjusts the duration, eliminating the need for a Ring Command bezel.

Coronet has advocated for the relaunch of the Yacht-Master II as the brand has strengthened its ties with SailGP since leaving Formula 1, with a new design capable of generating the same excitement the Rolex Daytona does on land.

Rolex Makes No Money From CPO, Even as It Competes With Rolex

(Photo credit: Rolex)

There is no reason to doubt Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour when he said Rolex does not plan to acquire more retailers beyond Bucherer. After all, mergers and acquisitions are complex and expensive, and the culture of an acquired company can be difficult to change. Still, Rolex should grow Bucherer’s footprint, as the brand is increasingly facing a new competitor: itself.

Rolex CPO may be the only competitor capable of weakening Rolex, since the brand earns no money from those sales, a fact confirmed recently by Rémi Corpataux, managing director of Rolex Germany. Yet the program, which was created to protect Rolex’s image, has become successful because it sells authentic Rolex watches certified by the brand. Rolex focuses on new watches, while the margin on CPO pieces stays with the retailer. Rolex says it will continue to let retailers keep 100% of the profit from CPO sales, even as the program has grown almost into a brand of its own, with sales estimated at about $500 million in 2025, up 60% from the year before.

The only way for Rolex to recoup more of that windfall is by expanding Bucherer’s footprint. Between Bucherer and its owned Tourneau stores, Rolex controls about 21% of global CPO inventory, slightly behind Watches of Switzerland, according to the latest WatchCharts estimates.

It is hard to overstate how the program has expanded Rolex’s secondary market rather than replacing grey dealers, as customers increasingly buy CPO watches when they visit Rolex boutiques instead of new models. Here are more staggering numbers: In the last three months of 2025 alone, CPO sales reached an estimated $172 million, which is roughly what Breguet generated in the entire year, according to Morgan Stanley.