Digitized Directories Reveal Rolex Founder Personal Information

If you dialed 2 42 42 in the 1940s, Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf would have likely answered the phone. His profession of directeur was also listed in the directory, next to his personal address of 41 Quai Wilson in Geneva. That’s according to a new tool available to the public since Tuesday.

The Switzerland of the 19th and 20th centuries is now at anybody’s fingertips thanks to historic.localsearch.ch, a new research tool developed in partnership with the PTT Archives and the University of Bern.

The site makes it possible to explore Swiss directories from 1880 to 1950, including the first “Wilsdorf et Davis” address in La Chaux-de-Fonds. It shows an evolution of Swiss society and horology over more than seven decades starting in 1880, when the first directory in Swiss history contained six pages for just 99 entries.

India's Rapid Growth Economy May Worsen Rolex Availability

As Rolex is poised to boost production to meet demand globally, clients of the brand are hopeful the supply situation will soon return to normal. But a study published last week by Deloitte tells a different story: an emerging market is likely to sap Rolex's availability further.

India's rapidly growing economy is driving an expansion of the middle class and a demand for aspirational products, like Swiss watches, the Deloitte report said. That potential has now been enhanced by a new trade agreement between Switzerland and India which will provide “a competitive advantage” for many years, according to Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin.

The new trade agreement will improve market access for Swiss watches by gradually reducing custom duties over seven years.

Last year, Coronet wrote an in-depth story about India, whose economy has now surpassed Britain’s. India is the home of only two dozen Rolex authorized dealers, while the U.K. has nearly 100 Rolex boutiques with less than 5% India's population.

When asked for comment, a Rolex press relations specialist in Geneva told Coronet the brand is monitoring the situation in India.

Rolex Increasingly Highlights History, Not Just Success, in Sports

(Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex more and more emphasizes history and tradition in its sports promotional videos, a sign the brand wants to be seen not just as a mark of success, but also one of enduring heritage.

Rolex will release next week a video on its social media channels about The Open, the British golf tournament played during the third week of July.

Rolex will include black-and-white clips from previous editions, exhorting us to not “break with tradition, enrich it. Don't yield before history, make it.”

This is a change from Rolex’s past videos about The Open which highlighted the sometimes challenging weather conditions that came with holding a golf tournament by the sea — and won only “by those who embrace their ruggedness,” the Rolex ad said.

Earlier this month, Rolex released a video about Wimbledon which urged us to “respect heritage” and “honor the legend.” It released another Wimbledon video a week later titled “Timeless tradition and glorious history.”

Rolex in Movies: Still a Positive for the Brand?

(Photo credit: Netflix)

Netflix’s “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” the fourth installment in the iconic 1980s action-comedy franchise, was released Wednesday, and a shiny Rolex Daytona makes a cameo.

Being an old-school cop from Detroit, Axel Foley played by Eddie Murphy wears a Shinola, a brand from Foley's hometown. But Beverly Hills police Captain Cade Grant, played by Kevin Bacon, sports a gold Daytona.

Is the captain’s choice of wristwatch enough to suspect corruption? Foley wonders.

A Rolex watch used in a movie plot to underscore potential corruption is the latest sign that Rolex’s branding of success is also shorthand for something more negative in the public’s minds, an association Rolex deplores.

Earlier this year, the President of Peru was embroiled in a scandal called “Rolexgate” by the media after she was spotted wearing luxury watches at public events. The nickname stuck though most of the watches in her collection were not… Rolex.

Rolex to Cede Formula 1 Sponsorship to LVMH

(Photo credit: Rolex)

After 11 years as a Global Partner and the Official Timepiece of Formula One, Rolex will cede the sponsorship to LVMH, according to sources in Geneva.

In 2013, Rolex became associated with F1 in a contract valued at tens of millions of dollars annually. According to sources, the LVMH group will be the official chronometer next season, beginning in Jan. 2025. The new annual contract is reportedly worth $150 million.

Rolex has not given a reason why it’s walking away from F1, a sport whose audience has doubled in the past decade, reaching 1.5 billion viewers in 2023, the fourth-most-watched sport worldwide.

Still, LVMH’s financial wherewithal — 86 billion euros in yearly revenue — is difficult to match. The LVMH group owns 75 brands, including TAG Heuer and Hublot.

F1’s carbon footprint has continued to garner attention, another reason Rolex could have bowed out: 24 races, 10 teams and thousands of workers travel around the world in the name of entertainment — a carbon footprint estimated at 223,031 tCO2e per season, 49% of that coming from travel logistics alone, according to F1’s most recent report.

Rolex Reveals It Does Not Import Gold From Africa

(Source: Rolex)

Switzerland is the biggest importer of gold in the world. The Swiss luxury industry has been rattled recently by reports that large quantities of gold were extracted under questionable conditions in Africa — and that Swiss refineries are reluctant to indicate their true origin.

Though Switzerland is the second largest importer of African gold, Rolex said it doesn’t import gold from Africa. The brand also said it has put measures in place for monitoring its supply chains. These pages were the first to report Rolex had set up an alert system for anyone to register concerns regarding Rolex’s mineral or metal supply chain.

Rolex also disclosed that the management of its gold is overseen internally by the brand's Precious Materials Committee, as well as a Sourcing Committee for each refiner.

Rolex has created a closed-loop refining of its gold waste, a recycling system of sorts, in order to minimize how much Rolex needs to import from mines. Gold from Rolex production waste, for example, make up 70% of total sourcing while gold leftovers from the watchmaking and electronics industries account for 12%. Finally, just 18% of Rolex’s sourcing comes from actual gold mines, according to the brand.

11 Years Later, Justin Bieber Still Wears the Same Rolex Daytona

The man is definitely not a flipper. Justin Bieber is keeping the time of his life with a yellow-gold Rolex Daytona, champagne dial, his very first luxury-watch purchase.

Now a husband and a father-to-be, the 30-year-old singer and his pregnant wife, Hailey Bieber, were spotted attending a church service in Beverly Hills last week, pictured above, left.

Spotting a celeb rocking a luxury timepiece is not rare, but seeing one faithful to a Rolex model is worth writing about. And while the comparison might be amiss, we’re reminded of Paul Newman and Jack Nicklaus — giants in their fields — whose trusty Rolex would end up topping millions at auctions. After all, it’s not just the provenance, but the time spent on the wrist.

Bieber bought his Daytona 116528 when he was just 19.

New Rolex Magazine Lands At Retailers Across Network

(Photo credit: Rolex)

The 12th issue of Rolex Magazine is arriving at an authorized dealer near you. Like the previous edition, it contains 150 pages and is free.

In a design change, “THE ROLEX MAGAZINE” is now printed in bold across the front-cover, likely to emphasize its official nature, but also to show the publication is not a plain watch catalog.

Indeed, the magazine invites readers to “Explore The World Of Rolex” with articles ranging from the art of creating a dial to stories of brand ambassadors, as well as its recent Perpetual Planet initiatives.

Rolex usually displays the year’s flagship model on the front — it would have been the GMT-Master II — but the brand decided to go with the new Deepsea dial, the first time the magazine doesn’t feature a full watch. Rolex published a separate 38-page GMT-Master brochure also this year, and it likely wanted to keep the publications visually distinct.

'Moving Room' in New Rolex Boutique Goes to Private Viewing Areas

(Photo credit: Rolex)

Housed in an entire vertical section of a neo-Renaissance building in Milan, Italy, a Rolex boutique, which opened earlier this year, was designed with a unique feature.

(Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex has had a longstanding relationship with Milan, a city described by Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour as “the commercial and cultural heart of Italy.” Rolex Italia is headquartered in Milan.

As a first ever for Rolex, the architects created a 7-square-meter, or 75-square-foot, room that conceals an elevator. The “moving room” — Rolex’s term — is complete with the display cases and TV monitors typically seen in boutiques. But when activated with a button on the wall, the room travels up and down to private viewing areas located on the upper levels.

Rolex's Dufour to Step Down From Watches and Wonders Leadership

Cyrille Vigneron and Jean-Frédéric Dufour. (Photo credit: Cyril Zingaro)

When Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour gave a rare interview at the start of Watches and Wonders in April, it was because he is also Chairman of the foundation responsible for organizing the fair. The Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation was created in 2022 by Rolex, Richemont and Patek Philippe.

After two years as Chairman, Dufour will step down on July 1st and become the treasurer of WWGF. Cartier CEO Cyrille Vigneron will take the helm while Patek CEO Claude Peny will serve as Vice-Chairman. Three new brands — Chanel, Hermès and LVMH — are also joining the board of the non-profit organization.

Rolex will skip Watches and Wonders Shanghai in August, these pages reported. The next Watches and Wonders Geneva will run from April 1 – 7, 2025, the foundation announced on Tuesday.

The Cellini Collection Is Surprisingly Rolex's Best Performer

(Photo credit: Rolex)

In the past two years, the Cellini collection has performed better than any other Rolex collection on the secondary market — that's according to WatchCharts, which tracks the historical trends of 587 Rolex references among other watches.

(Source: WatchCharts)

The Rolex Index has dropped -21.3% in the past two years while the Cellini collection dropped “only” -7.2%, a sign the secondary market’s focus on sports watches has spared the Cellini from a boom-and-bust cycle.

Inside the collection, the Cellini Moonphase dropped -5.4% while the blue-dial Cellini Date 50519 rose +2.8% over two years.

To compare, the Daytona references have lost -26.8% of their value during the same period, with some models, like the “John Mayer” Daytona, losing over -30%.

Rolex Builds Up Sponsorship Portfolio Through Rolex Series

(Credit: Rolex)

In 2016, the European Tour — a string of golf tournaments that include the BMW Championship, the Irish Open and the Scottish Open — announced it had posted a loss of 8 million pounds in prize money for just three events. Rolex decided to step in, renamed the golf tour “Rolex Series” and promised to make up future shortfalls.

This strategy wasn’t new for the brand. In 2002, Rolex had taken over the Grand American Road Racing Championship, featuring three of its premier races at Daytona, Watkins Glen and Indianapolis, and changed the name to “Rolex Sports Car Series.”

Then in 2005, Rolex renamed the 40-year-old regatta at the most prestigious yacht club in San Francisco “The Rolex Big Boat Series.”

The brand followed the same blueprint last month, when it announced it will unite six of the most prestigious equestrian shows in the world under the Rolex Series, the latest sign of the brand’s financial wherewithal in the world of sponsorships and its commitment to be associated with elite sports.

Rolex Will Skip Watches and Wonders Shanghai

(Image credit: Watches and Wonders)

Geneva's annual fair Watches and Wonders is struggling to get enough brands to invest in a big event it is planning in Shanghai at the end of August. Last year, some 14 brands participated. This year, the number is expected to drop to around nine, of which eight belong to Richemont.

Rolex will not attend the Shanghai edition of Watches and Wonders though Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour chairs the fair’s foundation. (Cartier CEO Cyrille Vigneron serves as its vice-chairman, and Cartier will be present at the fair.)

China is no longer the Eldorado that once powered the luxury watch industry. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, exports to China dropped -18% in the first half of 2024, when compared to the same period in 2023, while exports to other countries in the region — Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore — went up. Exports to South Korea jumped +17.3%, five times more than the U.S.’s.

Hong Kong was not spared by the slump, as Swiss watch exports to the Chinese city dropped a staggering -19.2%.

Rolex's New Wimbledon Video Will Focus on Heritage

Rolex will release a new Wimbledon video on its social media channels next week, as the brand marks almost half a century of sponsoring the oldest tennis tournament in the world.

Rolex’s new video, which contains shots of Rolex Testimonee Carlos Alcaraz, winner of last year's edition, will urge the viewers to “Respect [the tournament’s] heritage, bow to its majesty, honor the legend, uphold the discipline, don't change the rules, change the game.”

The clip contains shots of previous Wimbledon winners and ambassadors of the brand — Rod Laver, Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Stefan Edberg, Roger Federer — and finishes with a Wimbledon-dial Datejust on Oyster bracelet.

In a Discreet Move, Rolex to Invest in Tech Start-Ups

A new foundation announced at the Swiss Economic Forum earlier this month has an unlikely backer: Rolex.

The Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation, which is also backed by Swisscom, UBS and Sicpa, wants to injects 50 billion francs into Swiss tech start-ups, as a lack of venture capital in the country — and in Europe in general — hinders innovations from scaling up and succeeding on a global scale.

Switzerland's 2,500 start-ups, which employ 30,000 people, are currently financed at 80% by foreign investments. The new foundation backed by Rolex wants to double the capital available from 2.5 billion to 5 billion francs per year until 2030.

Except for a small Rolex logo on the foundation’s website, Rolex’s involvement is discreet, and no press releases were issued by the watchmaker — a sharp contrast from its sponsorships elsewhere, as recorded in these pages.

After the U.S. Open in golf ended last week, a championship sponsored by Rolex and won by a Rolex Testimonee, the brand is gearing up for one of its most conspicuous sponsorships of the year: Wimbledon.

Rolex Updates Digital Wallpapers With 2024 Collection

(From Rolex.com)

Rolex has updated the watches of its digital wallpapers, which are available for download on the brand’s website.

The new wallpapers include the steel GMT-Master II in black and grey, the platinum Cellini, the yellow-gold Deepsea, the Sky-Dweller on Jubilee, and the ombré-dial Day-Date, which was first made public at the Oscars.

The wallpapers can be used for phones or computers — with formats available at 1170x2532 px, 1920x1080 px and 2048x1536 px.

Unfortunately, some previous wallpapers, like the platinum Daytona or the two-tone GMT-Master II, are no longer available for download.

Move Over Daytona, There's a New King of Sports Rolex

(Data: WatchCharts)

It's been a year since the Yacht-Master 42 in titanium has been released, and the watch continues to register the most value retention of all professional Rolex models currently in production, including the steel Daytona and GMT-Master II Pepsi.

Given the titanium Yacht-Master's retail price of $14,050 and market price of $34,276, the Rolex 226627 has a value retention of +144.0%, compared to +117.1% for the Panda Daytona. That's according to the latest data available from WatchCharts.

Last week, Roger Federer donned a Yacht-Master 42 in titanium with his three-piece suit — not a Daytona, as he is often seen with — to attend the première of a documentary about his final tournament, “Twelve Final Days.”