Rolex Waitlists Shrink, but With a Catch

(Photo credit: Rolex)

The good news is you can buy a Rolex sooner than expected. The bad news is it might not be the one you want.

Rolex authorized dealers are shifting strategy, according to several reports, as their inventory continues to build, and the preowned market has been dropping for the past nine quarters.

With shorter waitlists, dealers are now asking clients to purchase baseline Rolex references to be considered for a Daytona, GMT, Sky-Dweller or other hard-to-get models, according to reports.

Baseline references, such as the Air-King, Datejust, Explorer and the Yacht-Master — but also any full-gold Rolex — are references difficult to resell on the preowned market without incurring a loss.

To be sure, this not part of any official policy by the brand, as Rolex S.A. doesn't own its authorized dealers except for Bucherer. A public relations official for Rolex in Geneva told Coronet the brand doesn't condone any pay-to-play strategy employed by dealers but relies on an independently run network.

“Rolex's biggest problem is not to sell watches, as it sells every watch,” the representative said. “Rolex's problem is to find the right clients for those watches.”

Rolex's Major Bienne Expansion Nearly Finished, Photos Show

(Photo credit: Time Files)

Rolex's multi-year expansion project in Bienne, whose plans were first filed with the city before the pandemic, are coming to an end, photos of the near-completed building taken Saturday reveal, the last part of a multiple-building expansion. The project was first detailed by Bienne-based publication Time Files.

All eyes are on the new manufacture slated to open in 2029, in Bulle, and the two temporary Rolex sites planned within the same canton. But the massive expansion of the Bienne manufacture is already likely contributing to Rolex’s inventory bump and the steady decline of the brand’s premium on the secondary market.

It is in Bienne, after all, that the components of a Rolex movement — from 200 to nearly 400 for the most complex calibres, according to Rolex — are manufactured, then assembled by hand and checked, a sure bottleneck in the production process.

The photos taken Saturday and sent to Coronet show the latest and final addition of what has been Rolex's biggest project in years.

Though the opening of the extension has been formerly inaugurated by the brand in 2022, it hasn't been fully complete. Production figures are hard to come by, but the Bienne project could boost movement production from 15% to 20%, based on the expansion size.

A Rolex Dress Watch Trading (Way) Above Retail

The Perpetual 1908 with an ice-blue dial is emerging on the watch market in the U.S., and its aggressive retail pricing could make this a game changer for a brand that has struggled with its non-Oyster classic line.

Until now, the ice-blue color was reserved for just two models at Rolex: the platinum Day-Date and the platinum Daytona, both priced more than double the 1908. Watches in platinum represent the most exclusive material within the collection, a metal that’s more expensive and more difficult to work with than gold. The 1908 is priced at $30,900, lower than Cartier's and Omega's platinum timepieces.

When asked via video call about the pricing of the 1908, a representative at Rolex in Geneva agreed the brand’s latest dress watch was being listed 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 [Watches and Wonders]… voilà,” the representative told Coronet.

The platinum 1908 is hard to come by; Chrono24 and eBay have none listed. Jaztime says it has one in stock: it’s $20,000 above retail.

Rolex Restructuring: Jewelers Face Closure Amid Network Changes

It turns out high demand for Rolex watches can also mean the death knell for authorized dealers, as Rolex restructures its network to better manage inventory.

More and more reports are coming in from jewelers around the world who said Rolex had cancelled their agreement even though they didn’t break any rules.

In the latest example, a Stuttgart-based jeweler, who had been in business for 50 years, said losing the Rolex authorization to carry the brand was “the final decision” for him to close his doors, according to an article published Sunday in a prominent German daily, the Frankfurter Allgemeine.

Coronet reached out to Rolex but the brand said it had no comment.

Still, by paring down the number of dealers in its network, Rolex can manage the scarcity more effectively and thus its reputation, as clients grow frustrated when facing empty display cases at too many locations. Fewer but better-stocked Rolex boutiques could help the brand provide a better overall shopping experience.

Rolex Wallpapers Now Available on Coronet

For a refresh of your phone lock screen, please enjoy these new Rolex wallpapers, which are accessible by going to coron.et/wallpaper. They’re free to download.

If you haven’t looked at Coronet’s menu in a while, please check out my long-form articles published monthly about Rolex, including recent details on the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, an interview with a dial maker at Rolex, and the unexpected finding Rolex is financially connected to a daily newspaper.

Finally, you might be interested in my unique coverage of this year’s new releases; I feel fortunate to have received direct quotes from the brand during Watches and Wonders 2024.

Vintage Cars Events Stand Out Among Rolex's Sponsorships

2023 Pebble Beach Best of Show: 1937 Mercedes. (Credit: Rolex)

Rolex said it sponsors events which share a set of strong founding values with the brand, such as the perpetual quest for excellence, the desire for technical precision and passion for innovation.

But the yearly vintage cars gathering taking place mid-August in Monterey, Calif., will include none of the values typically linking golf, tennis, equitation, yachting and car races.

Participants compete for “automotive elegance,” Rolex said. The winner — last year, the owner of a 1937 Mercedes — will earn a two-tone Datejust.

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance by Rolex, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering, are all Rolex-sponsored sports events. But they celebrate a “glorious step back in time,” Rolex said.

They tie the brand uniquely to the past, a marketing message Rolex uses more and more. In contrast, Rolex is abandoning Formula 1, Coronet was first to report, the peak innovation in motor sports.

The Rolex Market Is Still High Compared to Pre-Pandemic

(Data: WatchCharts)

WatchCharts and ChronoPulse agree: The Rolex overall market has been dropping for the last nine quarters, having peaked in May 2022 alongside crypto, which was likely not coincidental.

In WatchCharts' most recent report, which looks at the top 30 models within the brand, Rolex value dropped 7.2% year over year. Will Rolex availability soon be back to normal?

As the Rolex market continues to drop and watch flippers exit the market, watch media are predicting the waiting lists are next. But reports of their deaths are greatly exaggerated.

The Rolex market is standing higher now than it was when the world entered a pandemic, in mid-March of 2020, and people had money to burn. Rolex display cases were empty then and had been since late 2018.

If you had bought a Rolex watch at market value on March 15, 2020, before the biggest market rally in Rolex’s history, you could still pocket a 18.9% profit today, after a staggering nine-quarters-in-a-row decline.

The Mystery of JFK Jr.'s Rolex Daytona Emerges in New Book

(Photo credit: Simon & Schuster)

Twenty-five years after the death of JFK Jr. in a plane he was piloting, a new book released last week includes a story about a mystery Rolex the former president John F. Kennedy’s son owned.

In “JFK Jr: An Intimate Oral Biography by Liz McNeil and RoseMarie Terenzio,” one friend, David Clarke, told the authors how John once traded his Rolex Daytona, exotic dial, for a Nikon photo lens Clarke owned.

Clarke had also told that story to Jake Ehrlich of RolexMagazine.com who was first to publish it.

“It was a stainless steel Rolex Daytona wristwatch. On the back it says, ‘To John, from Ari and Alex, 10/20/68.’ Alex is Aristotle Onassis’ son. Ari gave it to John when [his mother] Jackie married Aristotle Onassis,” Clarke said.

A few years later John told Clarke his mom wanted him to get the watch back, and they swapped again. “My mom says I have to get it back, only because it was a gift from my stepfather,” John told Clarke.

Clarke later wrote to John’s sister Caroline Kennedy, telling her the story, and asking her if she knew where the Rolex was. “She wrote back, ‘I didn’t know about it or ever see it. He probably lost it. He lost everything.' ”

Geneva Building Bought by Rolex to Aid Women

(Google Street View)

The Hans Wilsdorf foundation has acquired an imposing building in downtown Geneva that will be open 24 hours a day.

The foundation, which owns 100% of Rolex, plans to give the building for use to the Réseau Femmes, or the Women's Network, combining 11 Geneva non-profit organizations aiming to help women.

The Réseau Femmes said it had been a decade-long dream to have a place where material and human resources can both be pooled to defend women's rights.

More than acquiring the building, the Hans Wilsdorf foundation, which generates revenue from Rolex's sales, will provide up to 10 million francs for the building's renovation.

By 2026, the Maison des Femmes foundation will have access to a 3,500 sq m, or 38,000 sq ft, area located in the city center.

Maison des Femmes says it plans to build a 24-hour reception area, with apartments for victims of violence, housing for students and senior women, and a space dedicated to children. It will also include a workplace for women’s organizations, a café, library, coworking spaces and a second-hand clothing store.

Rolex Posts Job Listings for Temporary New Sites

(From carrieres-rolex.com)

Rolex has started to post job listings for the canton of Fribourg, where Bulle is located. While the Bulle manufacturing site is not scheduled to be up and running until 2029, Rolex is going ahead with plans to use temporary sites in the same canton, as reported by Coronet.

The two temporary sites, which will be operational as early as 2025, will likely put pressure further on Rolex’s secondary market. There are four times more preowned Rolex watches listed for sale today than in 2021.

On its employment page, Rolex has listed five job openings for the Fribourg site. Rolex plans to hire between 250 and 300 new employees, who will be trained at those locations before transferring to Bulle in 2029, when Rolex’s new CHF1 billion factory is operational.

Earlier this week, Glâne prefecture gave Rolex the green light to start renovating the defunct Tetra Pak site in Romont, in the Fribourg canton. Rolex's other temporary site will be in Villaz-Saint-Pierre.

Rolex-Bucherer Deal Would Pour Billions Into New Foundation

(Photo credit: Rolex)

Now that antitrust authorities have signed off on the deal that shook the watch industry almost a year ago, Rolex’s takeover of the largest watch and jewelry retailer in the world is scheduled to be finalized at the end of this month.

But the owner of the retailer, Jörg Bucherer, won't see the deal close, as he passed away a few months after penning the sale. Like Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf, Bucherer had no children; he died one of the richest men in the canton of Lucerne.

According to insiders, a windfall of at least 4 billion francs from Rolex should go to his estate after the deal closes, leaving an inheritance topping 6 billion francs.

The executor of Bucherer's will, a lawyer named Urs Mühlebach, said the money will go to a new foundation, the Bucherer Foundation. People familiar with the matter say the Lucerne region will “benefit greatly.”

Mühlebach said the foundation’s purpose will be “the promotion and support of music, fine arts and literature, quality tourism, scientific research and teaching, improving the availability of places in retirement and nursing homes, and the care of disabled children.”

New Discovery in Old Rolex Ads: White-Dial Explorers

(Photo credit: Nick Gould)

Rolex's future release of a white-dial Explorer could be justified more than ever, as the recent discovery of a vintage ad is shedding some light on one of the most mysterious Rolex examples. A Rolex ad was found in a 70-year-old publication promoting a white-dial Explorer.

Until now, it was unclear whether Rolex had ever sold so-called “Albino Explorers,” as their origin story is a mystery even to watch experts — they believe the printing on white dials was to ensure the proper functioning of a watchmaker’s equipment, and those rare test dials found their way onto the market. Auction house Phillips, which sold one last year, said they number in the “low single digits.”

But now, the discovery found in a Winnipeg publication printed in Aug. 1953 shows white-dial Explorers were actually featured in ads, like the one placed by Eaton’s, a department store chain that was once the largest in Canada.

The discovery was made by Nick Gould, a watch writer. Gould said the ad is interesting because “Explorer” is actually printed on the dial, unlike the black-dial version seen in the 1953 ad of Geographical Magazine.

Bucherer Employees to Get Bonus as Rolex Takeover Is Approved

Jörg Bucherer (Photo credit: Bucherer)

An internal letter sent to all 2,000 Bucherer employees on Wednesday confirmed the news reported by Coronet last week: The buyout by Rolex has been approved by all antitrust authorities.

Bucherer employees who were on the payroll by the end of 2023 will receive a bonus between half a month's salary and one and a half months' salary based on longevity. The letter, which was signed by Bucherer CEO Guido Zumbühl and Urs Mühlebach, also said the deal will be finalized at the end of July.

Dr. Mühlebach is a Bucherer board member and the executor of Jörg Bucherer's will. Mr. Bucherer, who died last November and was childless, is following in Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf’s footsteps by leaving his personal wealth to establish a foundation, the Bucherer Foundation.

Mr. Bucherer's wealth was estimated at CHF2 billion before the sale to Rolex. Sources in Lucerne estimate it is triple that now, making it one of the largest charitable institutions in Switzerland with the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation.

Bulle Residents Back Rolex's Arrival of New Manufacture

Rendering of Rolex’s planned new manufacture. (Credit: Rolex)

Another hurdle for Rolex’s planned new manufacture in Bulle has been removed, as the window for residents to voice their oppositions recently closed.

The City of Bulle said the residents had a month to review Rolex’s plans, and it gave itself 10 more days after the deadline of July 8 to review the public comments and release the results.

Out of 27,000 residents, only one opposition was submitted by an individual, according to the city. But that individual does not live in Bulle. “As the opponent withdrew his opposition, the Municipal Council did not have to consider it,” the city said.

Bulle is planning to build at least two new elementary schools, add one junior high school and is mulling revamping its recreation center. Banks, retailers, hotels, restaurants, construction and equipment companies — all are expecting a boom in business thanks to Rolex’s arrival.

To secure the financing for new schools, the Bulle Municipal Council plans to submit a bond request in December 2024, according to Council member David Seydoux. This will be the second bond request in three years, as the Bulle General Council already approved a bond of 1.6 million Swiss francs in 2021.

“We would like this growth to be slower, but we cannot control the pace,” Seydoux said. “Bulle is a bit of a victim of its success!”

Unique: A Submariner With Moon Phase and Meteorite Dial

(Photo credit: Artisans de Genève)

Swiss company Artisans de Genève, which specializes in bespoke modifications, connected the ocean to the universe last week, when it unveiled “The Heart of Namibia,” a Rolex Submariner 116610 it had customized with a genuine meteorite dial and a fully in-house developed moon phase complication displayed with a mother-of-pearl stone.

“At our client’s request, and for the first time, we created a large moon entirely made from precious stones,” Artisans de Genève said.

Bespoke-watch services have been controversial and argued in courts on both sides of the Atlantic. But the Supreme Court of Switzerland has ruled Artisans de Genève is not infringing on Rolex trademark as long as it sold customization services and not customized watches, as reported on Coronet.

This pièce unique features a dark blue ceramic bezel and a dial etched from a rare meteorite stone that was found in Namibia, giving the timepiece its name. The movement's rotor, which is displayed on the caseback, also features a Namibian meteorite insert.

The Birthplace of Rolex Watches Has Had No Authorized Dealer

(Photo credit: Time Files)

The city where Rolex watches were born doesn't have a Rolex authorized dealer. That's about to change on Friday, when watch retailer L'Art du Temps opens a Rolex boutique in Bienne, a Swiss city nestled near the Jura mountains.

It's not in Geneva but in Bienne that the first fully finished Rolex watches were assembled more than 100 years ago, according to the Bienne-based publication Time Files.

It's also where the first Rolex movements were built, and continue to be built today in Rolex’s 3,000-employee manufacture. “The heart of the watch starts beating in Bienne,” Rolex once said.

So it's highly unusual for such a historically significant city of 55,000 residents to find itself without a Rolex boutique when the previous retailer, Villiger, unexpectedly lost its dealership contract in 2022.

But starting Friday, L’Art du Temps hopes to quicken the pulse again of the heart of Rolex.