Rolex Gears up for the French Open

The second Grand Slam tournament of the season, Roland Garros, begins next week, and Rolex, a sponsor since 2019, has already uploaded an unlisted video on YouTube, featuring the Datejust in Everose gold with a sundust dial to represent this year’s French tennis event.

A slew of Rolex brand ambassadors will tackle the red clay starting Monday, including Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Świątek, Coco Gauff and Stéfanos Tsitsipás. And while Świątek won last year’s event, no Rolex Testimonee has won the Men’s title at Roland Garros since Roger Federer in 2009.

Rolex's global director of communication and image, Arnaud Boetsch, who is largely responsible for bringing Federer to the brand, is a former tennis pro himself. Rolex is now sponsoring more tennis players than any other kind of celebrities.

This year’s edition marks a memorable milestone for two Rolex legends. It was 50 years ago, in 1974, that Chris Evert and Björn Borg arrived at Roland Garros as teenagers and won their maiden Grand Slam titles.

2024 Rolex Release Hits the Pre-owned Market

(Photo credit: DavidSW)

David Sylvestre-Williams, who co-founded DavidSW in 2008, a pre-owned watch and jewelry dealer based in Orlando and Miami, listed the first 2024 Rolex release, a gold Deepsea, on Sunday, just one month after its unveiling at Watches and Wonders.

The watch — listed in unworn condition — was sold within hours. DavidSW had priced Rolex's newest gold diver at $75,675.00, a $23,570 premium over retail price.

As always, list price doesn't mean it sold for that much. But given how quickly the listing went, DavidSW must have gotten close to its asking price.

Stallone to Auction off More of His Collection

(Credit: Sotheby’s)

Less than four years after Sylvester Stallone auctioned off some of his watches with Phillips, including a Richard Mille, the Academy Award-winning director and actor is letting go of more of his collection, but this time with a different auction house.

In a video posted by Sotheby's earlier this week, Stallone describes the beginning of his love affair with Rolex after he saw Gregg Allman [of the Allman Brothers] wearing a gold Rolex. He decided to reward himself after filming “Rocky” and bought a gold Submariner. “It's not about keeping time. It's about keeping in step with where you are in life,” he said in the video.

Sotheby's will be presenting 11 pieces from his collection on June 5th, including a rose-gold Rolex Day-Date, which features an olive-green dial and a customized engraving on the caseback.

“This watch provided hours and hours of joy,” he said. “Oh, it says 'Sly' on the back, so I can relate to that. It is just a beautiful conversation piece.”

In Battle of the Crowns, Rolex Takes on Hallmark

(Source: USPTO)

What happens when an American greeting card company, which has used the crown as a logo for seven decades, wants to use the same logo to sell jewelry?

In a trademark opposition proceeding filed with the USPTO, Rolex U.S.A. claims that Kansas City, Missouri-based Hallmark is “seeking to apply a crown mark on goods that are identical or in some way related to Rolex’s famous watches.”

Hallmark has used the crown as a logo since 1952 and filed last year a trademark registration for the logo to be used in Class 14 (jewelry). Hallmark also owns a television channel and a dozen famous brands, but it doesn’t sell watches.

Still, Rolex argues that if the greeting card company is granted a registration for its lookalike logo that extends to jewelry products, that would cause damage to the Rolex brand as it has spent “in excess of $100 million, over the past 60 years, advertising and promoting its crown design trademark” to consumers in the U.S. market.

Tom Cruise Rocks a Rolex Daytona. Again

(Photo by Ricky Vigil M / Justin E Palmer/GC Images)

All of Tom Cruise's moves are scrutinized by the press — and the movements on his wrist, too.

After spending time in Paris for the filming of “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part 2,” Cruise went to London for Victoria Beckham's 50th birthday and made quite an entrance as he stepped out of a black Mercedes. The 61-year-old actor looking sharp in a tuxedo was rocking a Rolex Daytona ice-blue dial in platinum.

This past year Cruise has seemed to feel the need, the need, to wear a Rolex: A white-gold Daytona at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix, a Pepsi GMT-Master II, a black-dial Sky-Dweller, and even a Yacht-Master 42 in RLX titanium during the promotion of the last “Mission: Impossible” installment.

I wonder here whether Cruise could reach Paul Newman-level in terms of brand ambassadorship.

High-Profile Watch Auction Could Buoy Industry

(Photo credit: Christie’s)

Eight of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher’s luxury watches will be exhibited at Christie's in New York from May 3 to May 5 before they are going up for auction in Geneva, including a Rolex Daytona reference 6262.

The high-profile auction — a seven-times Formula 1 World Champion selling one of the most iconic racing watches ever made — could be a shot in the arm for an industry that is going through a painful downturn. In April, analysts at WatchCharts and Morgan Stanley said the Swiss watch industry overall could suffer a double-digit decline in exports in 2024. Prices for pre-owned Rolex watches have fallen for the past three years.

Schumacher’s 1971 Rolex Daytona 6262 featuring a Paul Newman dial will be auctioned off on May 12 at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva. More details here.

Rolex For-Sale Listings Have Doubled in 2 Years

Source: WatchCharts, Morgan Stanley

Inventory for Rolex watches on the pre-owned market more than doubled in just two years, the latest sign Rolex owners are trying to cash out as prices continue to fall.

According to the latest WatchCharts & Morgan Stanley research, Rolex pre-owned inventory is at 110% what it was in March 2022 with prices now reaching a three-year low.

Rolex pre-owned inventory rose 8% in the first quarter of 2024.

These pages reported last week Rolex official retailers in the Certified Pre-Owned program have added a staggering 1,200 pre-owned pieces in just one quarter, a jump of 33%.

Rolex's Collection Is Becoming More Unisex Than Ever

(Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex Daytonas with diamond-cut bezels are not new. But it's the first year Rolex is introducing them as official catalog pieces, the brand's acknowledgement diamonds on men's sports watches are joining the main stream.

Professional athletes like baseball player Aaron Judge or soccer player Lionel Messi have been spotted with serti Daytonas.

Still, gem-set bezels on men's watches blur the line between a men's and ladies' collection, a fact acknowledged by the brand.

“This unisex trend has been quite obvious for sometime,” a Rolex representative in Geneva told me. “And it's not just because of gem-setting. For several years now, women have been wearing more masculine watches.”

But Rolex also admitted their popularity depends on the market, as such watches try to strike a balance between elegance and abundance. While they might find a niche in the Americas, the Persian Gulf and South-East Asia, they tend to be less popular in Europe.

As CPO Supply Swells, Rolex Retailers Keep High Premiums

Source: WatchCharts, Morgan Stanley

The Rolex Certified Pre-Owned program continues to expand at a rapid rate, that's according to the latest WatchCharts, Morgan Stanley report out this week, with inventory jumping 1,200 pieces, or 33%, since January, a sign Rolex owners are cashing out during the longest sales decline in recent memory.

Still, official retailers in the CPO program seem to feel less the pressure, as they continue to charge 20% to 40% more than non-CPO dealers in similar areas. They are also few in numbers: Just four CPO dealers hold more than 75% of the total Rolex CPO inventory, according to the latest data.

The 1916 Company remains the most competitive when it comes to Rolex CPO pricing, with an average premium of +18% across more than 900 listings.

Newly Discontinued Rolex Daytona Tops $300,000

(Image: Chrono24)

The Rolex Daytona with the shortest lifespan is now shattering premium records for a modern piece by the Crown.

Discontinued at Watches and Wonders just 10 months after its launch, the white-gold edition of the Daytona Le Mans has skyrocketed in prices, topping $300,000.

Before Watches and Wonders, the watch was trading for around $180,000, already a significant premium over its retail price of $51,400. Just two weeks after its announced discontinuation, the majority of 126529LN listed on Chrono24 exceed $300,000.

Listed prices do not necessarily translate into sold values. But the cheapest Le Mans listed in the U.S. will set you back $280,000.

Why a Rolex GMT 'Coke' in Steel Is Unlikely in 2025

In Rolex parlance, the GMT-Master II was the brand’s flagship piece at Watches and Wonders this year. The model is headlining the official press packet, including a 40-page brochure, a five-minute video and an exhibition dedicated to the GMT’s history. (Last year, it was the Daytona.)

A “Coke” GMT in 2025 would definitely be an important release. But can the GMT be the flagship piece two years in a row? “I don’t think so,” a Rolex representative at Watches and Wonders told me. “It would be very surprising.”

Still, a “Coke” could mark the 70th anniversary of the model. But Rolex’s approach to anniversaries has been unusual for a luxury watchmaker. “We are going full in on the GMT this year even though the model's anniversary is not until next year,” the rep told me. “It's almost our way of snubbing anniversaries by not marking them. We mark them sometimes, sometimes not. But if we do, it is very subtle, like a red '100' on the Daytona Le Mans’ bezel.”

For popular releases, including the BLRO in 2018 or last year’s GRNR, Rolex confirmed its strategy to offer the piece in precious metal first. “Most of the time, when we release a piece, we present it in gold first, then we’ll vary it,” the Rolex rep finally said.

Rolex Is Aggressively Pricing Its Latest Dress Watch

(Data compiled from the brands)

At $30,900, Rolex has decided to price the ice-blue Perpetual 1908 in platinum below market, in a sign it is serious about competing in the dress-watch segment. Watches in platinum often represent the most exclusive material within a collection — a metal that is more expensive and more difficult to work with than gold.

Moreover, the 1908 presented at Watches and Wonders this year features a guilloché dial, a technique that uses a graver to sculpt a pattern into a surface. Until now, the ice-blue color was reserved for the platinum Day-Date and Daytona, both priced more than double the 1908. The movement of the 1908 uses the Syloxi, Rolex's latest innovation in hairspring.

A representative at Rolex in Geneva seemed to agree the brand’s latest dress watch was being priced competitively though she stopped short of saying so.

“For a watch in platinum with a movement that is visible, displayed… honestly… compared to what other brands are doing and what we've seen at the fair, voilà…” the Rolex representative said.

Rolex Denounces 'Pay-To-Play' Amid Industry Sales Decline

(Photo credit: Cyril Zingaro)

The watch market will continue to sag mainly due to China, where demand has plummeted in recent months, and in Europe, where consumer morale is low with war raging on its borders, watch executives at Geneva's Watches and Wonders said last week.

“2024 will be a challenge. A phase in which all manufacturers were doing well is coming to an end,” Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour said in an interview for the Swiss newspaper NZZ before the opening of the fair.

In declining sales, multi-brand dealers might continue to push hard-to-sell pieces as a condition to own a new Rolex even if Rolex supply has picked up. But a representative for Rolex in Geneva said those sales tactics are being curtailed by the brand.

“There's been a real witch hunt by Rolex which clearly condemns this kind of practices,” the representative said.

For Rolex, Mother of Pearl Is the New Meteorite

(Photo credit: Rolex)

The brand is introducing a mother-of-pearl option for Daytonas with diamond-cut bezels. Mother of pearl is considered “the noblest, oldest part of the shell, and difficult to work with,” Rolex told me.

The new Daytona with a diamond-cut bezel made its entry into the catalog at Watches and Wonders this year. Such Daytonas were considered off-catalog pieces in the past but have grown in popularity, especially among men.

When asked whether mother-of-pearl dials are considered the new meteorite at Rolex, a representative said it would make sense to think that way.

“This is not clearly stated by the brand. But as an external observer, for me, it makes sense. The goal was to offer another dial which has a lot of relief, a lot of texture and a lot of volume.”

Rolex's New GMT Color Could Make the Others Rarer

(Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex's big surprise at Watches and Wonders this year was not necessarily the new GMT-Master II in black and grey — but that the brand didn't discontinue the Pepsi, the Batman or the Sprite.

Rolex added a color option for the steel GMT, offering more color options than ever in the GMT line. That it hasn't removed any GMTs from the catalog begs the question: Will there be fewer GMTs produced of each color if the line shares the same case and movement?

“I imagine that would make sense to think that way given we are already producing at a near maximum level,” a Rolex representative said. “And if we don’t want to sacrifice quality — which we will never do — I imagine that would be the case.”

But the representative stopped short of confirming that fewer BLRO or BLNR would be produced. The brand doesn’t communicate production data or the ratio among bezels.

Rare GMTs Owned by the Brand on Display for the First Time

(Photo credit: L: Rolex; R: Jason Heaton. Used with permission)

The GMT-Master exhibition inside Rolex's booth at Watches and Wonders this year is showing pieces never seen before by the public, the latest sign the brand has amassed a collection well suited for a museum. (When asked about plans to build one, Rolex responded, “We do not comment on potential future projects.”)

Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert's GMT-Master is among the watches on display for the first time. The first documented Rolex in space left circulation after Swigert gifted the watch to René-Paul Jeanneret, a Rolex executive, in exchange for a gold GMT.

“Certain GMT-Master watches worn by remarkable individuals have witnessed history in the making,” Rolex said. “Over the years, Rolex has safeguarded this heritage by conserving some of these exceptional timepieces.”

Rolex displayed a collection of vintage Daytonas at Dubai Watch Week in November.

Rolex Continues to Trend Upscale With Latest Launch

(Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex's ineluctable march upscale continued this morning at Watches and Wonders, as the brand's long-awaited unveiling of its 2024 collection included only one steel model, a black-and-grey GMT-Master II. Meanwhile, it removed the Yacht-Master II from the catalog, the second time in two years Rolex has killed a steel reference after discontinuing the Milgauss in 2023. All the other releases were in precious metal.

With the unveiling of a solid-gold Deepsea, Rolex this year separated the Deepsea from the Sea-Dweller line in its catalog, making the Deepsea collection more visible than ever.

Rolex releasing an ice-blue Perpetual 1908 in platinum just one year after its collection introduction shows the brand is taking the 1908 seriously, and this release has just made Rolex a greater competitor than ever in the dress-watch segment.

You can read my commentary on the new Deepsea here.