A New Book From Geneva Celebrates Travel Watches

(Photo credit: GMT Publishing)

The 2024 edition of the Millennium Watch Book collection, the fifth in its series, is dedicated to travel watches, specifically GMT and worldtimer models.

The release Wednesday of the 190-Swiss-franc, 200-page coffee-table book, just weeks after Rolex's first authorized history of the Submariner, is the latest sign print is still very much in demand when it comes to showcasing the watchmaking world.

This volume published by GMT Publishing in Geneva delves into the history, engineering and cultural impact of travel watches through more than 1,000 photographs.

It also highlights the Top 50 travel watches from the past two decades, independent creators, auction trends and travel-specific complications. For more details or to order, visit The Millennium Watch Book​.

(Photo credit: GMT Publishing)

Seddiqi to Take Rolex CPO to New Heights

Roger Federer, Jean-Frédéric Dufour, Abdul Seddiqi and representatives in 2018. (Photo credit: Jake’s Rolex World)

Dubai-based Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, the largest authorized dealer of luxury watches in the Middle East, is taking the Rolex certified pre-owned program to the next level with highly collectible vintage pieces, some more than 50 years old, the latest sign of changing appetites in the Middle Eastern market, where consumers have historically favored new models.

Next week, Seddiqi will open its first Rolex CPO store specializing in vintage models, with around 120 vintage CPO pieces on display at the Dubai’s Wafi Mall and a growing inventory of 400 pieces.

Seddiqi said it has spent in excess of $10 million on stock, including on many 40 and 50-year-old Rolex watches in new-old-stock condition and a further $500,000 on servicing to meet Rolex’s CPO criteria. The retailer said it’s planning on low margins — maximum 20% — to gauge demand in the market.

Coronet last month reported on how the CPO program started two years ago by Rolex has continued to swell despite the 10-consecutive-quarter drop of the pre-owned watch market.

A New Rolex Logo for a Daycare Center

(Credit: Rolex via Swissreg.ch)

In an unusual trademark filing with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, Rolex has registered a new logo under the category Service de crèches d'enfants, with the tagline “Les P'tits Spiro: Grandir et s'épanouir au fil du temps.”

Rolex confirmed it is planning to open a daycare center starting mid-2025 for its Bienne manufacture — its largest manufacture — the latest sign the brand wants to help young mothers (and fathers) develop a career at Rolex.

“As a committed company, this initiative aims to support the well-being of our employees by offering them a work environment adapted to their needs,” a Rolex representative said.

Les P'tits Spiro, or the Little Spiro, is a riff on the Belgian comic character Spirou and the spiral shape of a watch’s mainspring — while Grandir et s'épanouir au fil du temps means to grow and thrive over time. In the logo, the markers typically found on a Rolex watch create the eyes and hands of the character.

Rolex said the childcare facility will initially welcome 60 children with an option to expand. The location on Leugene 6 Street in Bienne was picked for its proximity to the Rolex site but also for being near nature and away from major roads.

This is not the first crèche d'enfants for Rolex employees: the brand has had a daycare since 2021 at its Geneva location.

Upcoming Rolex Sales Tout Provenance

Bill Paxton. (Photo credit: Jake’s Rolex World)

There are two types of provenance in Rolex collecting. The first one is linked to someone famous; the second is all about the experience: a moon landing, a land speed record or an interesting dive. Sotheby's will offer both types in its upcoming auctions.

In its Important Watches sale on Dec. 6, Sotheby's will feature two Rolex Submariners linked to the movie “Titanic.” One of the watches, a stainless steel Submariner “Red” ref. 1680 has accompanied underwater Titanic cinematographer on numerous deep-sea dives to the Titanic site. The second, a gold Submariner ref. 1680/8, was worn by actor Bill Paxton during the filming of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster.

In Sotheby's “The GOAT Collection: Watches & Treasures From Tom Brady,” on Dec. 10, the seven-time Super Bowl champion is auctioning several Rolex watches, including a rare Paul Newman-dial Daytona ref. 6241 “John Player Special.”

(Photo credit: Sotheby’s)

As China Prepares for Another Trump Term, Rolex Stands to Gain

(Photo credit: Rolex/MZ-STUDIOS)

While China braces for increased trade tensions with the U.S. under Donald Trump, it announced Friday a Rmb10 trillion ($1.4 trillion) fiscal package to help shore up its economy.

China's faltering economy has had a direct impact on Swiss watch exports, which had dropped -24.6% — in Hong Kong, -20.4% — when comparing the first nine months of 2024 to the same period last year, according to the latest data available, while exports to the U.S. and Japan have slightly increased.

The measures announced by the National People’s Congress just three days after Trump's election may help jumpstart its economy, benefitting the luxury industry, including Rolex. China is the second biggest market in the world for Swiss watches.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin spiked to a record high as crypto investors celebrated the election victory of Trump, who has pledged to make the U.S. “the bitcoin superpower of the world.” The world’s biggest cryptocurrency rallied to an all-time high of $79,595 on Sunday.

When the cryptocurrency surged in 2021, it presaged a bubble in Rolex preowned prices, as many “crypto bros” diversified their portfolios by buying and flipping Rolex watches.

Missing Rolex Adds Mystery to Liam Payne's Death

(From @liampayne / Instagram)

New details in the investigation into Liam Payne's death reveal the star's Rolex watch is nowhere to be found. The former One Direction singer died on Oct. 16 after falling from his room balcony, in Palermo, Buenos Aires. A toxicology report said he had drugs and alcohol in his system.

Payne wore a yellow-gold Rolex Day-Date 40 with champagne-colored dial that was found missing from his hotel room where he had stayed for four days. Payne is said to have been seen wearing the Rolex in CCTV images and other photos shortly before he died around 5pm local time on Oct. 16.

Police identified the presence of two female escorts at the hotel in the hours before Payne's death. Payne offered $5,000 to the escorts but ended up not paying them, according to ABC News. The two women left the hotel before he fell, according to footage from security cameras.

Payne's Rolex Day-Date, Reference 228238, retails for $40,100.

Swiss Authorities Clear Way for New Bucherer Charity

Jörg Bucherer. (Photo credit: Corriere del Ticino)

The Swiss government cleared the Bucherer Foundation to be officially registered in the public records in January 2025 after ruling Jörg Bucherer had no legal heir to his estate. The foundation will begin operation in 2026.

It was a year ago, on Nov. 6, 2023, that Bucherer, the owner of the largest watch and jewelry retailer in the world, passed away, weeks after selling his company to Rolex.

Because he had no descendants, the inheritance estimated at more than 6 billion francs will be poured into a new foundation, as reported by Coronet, following in Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf's footsteps.

Rolex’s takeover was finalized in July after antitrust authorities signed off on the deal. The Swiss government approved the establishment of the foundation, ruling out the possibility of legal heirs after local newspapers publicized a search into Bucherer’s grandparental line.

The foundation will support music, literature, scientific research, the care of disabled children, as well as improving availability in nursing homes, according to the executor of Bucherer’s will, Urs Mühlebach.

Rolex Is Switzerland's Most Attractive Employer

(Credit: Rolex)

It's hard to compete against Google, but Rolex does it well. The watchmaker is taking first place two years in a row as the most attractive employer for young professionals in Switzerland ahead of Google. The Californian tech giant, with 5,000 employees based in Zurich, had ranked first in 2022.

Luxury brands are still a huge draw, according to the just-released Young Professional Attraction Index (YPAI) 2024, a yearly survey by recruitment company Academic Work that included 1,542 Swiss participants aged 18 to 30. Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Chanel are in the top 10.

Not surprisingly, tech companies remain strong contenders, with Google taking second place and Microsoft coming in sixth. Still, the public sector isn’t far behind, a sign of its strength in Switzerland, with the Swiss Confederation ranked ninth and Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) at twelfth.

(Data: Academic Work)

Rolex Adds Personalized Homepage Experience

(From Rolex.com)

In a new feature added to Rolex.com, the homepage is using cookies to remember and display the last watch you've viewed on the site.

“Welcome back,” Rolex's official website now says while offering to pick up where you left off. The homepage will also remember how you last configured a watch through the site’s configurator, as well as your recently viewed jeweler’s name and address. You might want to go private mode if you’re researching a gift for a significant other.

While these features are nothing new among major retailers, it is the latest sign Rolex keeps improving its online presence to make the experience more personal to clients.

Rolex's Mystery Air-King Desk Clock

(Image: Rolex)

Rolex has surprised the public in the past with end-of-year releases. Such pieces as the titanium Deepsea Challenge, in 2022, and the violin-dial Day-Date last year — first revealed on Coronet — have generated quite a holiday buzz for the brand.

It's unclear what Rolex has in store for this holiday, but a desk clock whose designs were filed earlier this year by Rolex with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property has yet to be spotted in the flesh. The Rolex desk clock will likely be limited to employees and dealers, but could one day surface at auctions.

The clock’s dial is reminiscent of an Air-King watch, which in turn is inspired from the Bloodhound supersonic vehicle's Rolex-made instruments. The Air-King dial is the only one in the collection with the brand’s logo in green and yellow.

Philippe Cousteau’s Rolex Double Red Sea-Dweller for Sale

(Photo credit: LiveAuctioneers)

A Rolex Sea-Dweller 1655 that once belonged to Philippe Cousteau, the son of the famous ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, has just come up for sale.

The watch, a Double Red dial with a faded red color, was a gift from Philippe in 1973 to the current owner and seller after a deep-sea dive in the Mediterranean Sea. The auction, hosted by LiveAuctioneers, will close on Nov. 14. Vintage watches with provenance have generally defied the preowned down market.

Cousteau, whose life was cut short in 1979 in a plane crash, was a oceanographer and filmmaker known for his work alongside his father. Together, they co-produced and co-hosted several acclaimed documentaries.

The watch is not the same Sea-Dweller that was auctioned at Antiquorum in 2014, another Philippe Cousteau watch with a much lower serial number.

Philippe and Jacques Cousteau. (Photo credit: Perezcope.com)

Rolex Concludes Major 2-Year Expedition

Dr. Baker Perry (Photo credit: Armando Vega)

Rolex announced Tuesday it had marked the end of a two-year-long Amazon expedition involving seven teams of scientists, the latest sign of the brand's financial wherewithal in conservation projects, unmatched among watchmakers.

The ambitious expedition, which ran from 2022 to 2024, involved explorers, scientists and researchers working with local community members in seven different projects across a huge swath of South America, from the icy peaks of the Peruvian Andes to the Caribbean. The expedition was also backed by National Geographic.

A special issue devoted entirely to the two-year project was published in NatGeo in October. The pictures are also available at Rolex.org, Rolex’s official site about the brand's initiatives. Rolex released Wednesday a short clip on its Youtube channel. Coronet interviewed one of the expedition’s scientists, climatologist Dr. Baker Perry.

Chrono24 Pressures Dealers in Downturn

(Photo credit: Chrono24)

As the preowned-watch market continues a 10-consecutive-quarter decline, Karlsruhe, Germany-based Chrono24 is tightening its grip on fees, doubling listing rates for professional sellers, saying it wants “to motivate dealers to make transactions and not just use Chrono24 as a display window.”

There are over 100,000 Rolex watches listed on Chrono24, the most of any platform worldwide. Starting this month, it's become more expensive for its 4,000 dealers to do business, a sign of Chrono24's dominance in the market.

To list watches on Chrono24, dealers will now have to pay a minimum of 199 euros per month, compared to 69 euros before. For more than 25 watches, it goes to 369 euros a month, from 139 euros. Dealers used to pay 249 euros a month for 100 watches; they'll now have to pay 629 euros.

Chrono24 is also charging a “dynamic” rate between 4% to 10% in sales commission based on the popularity of the watch model, a form of surge pricing so that fees are higher when the most in-demand watches sell. Dealers have complained the lack of transparency makes it hard to plan, and rates of up to 10% after steep listing fees eat into their margins, which can remain thin even for popular watches.

First Rolex Moon Watch Is Leaving the U.S.A.

Edgar Mitchell. (Photo credit: Jake’s Rolex World)

The first Rolex moon watch, which is also the first watch on the moon to be self-winding, was sold yesterday. The astronaut's daughter had the Rolex GMT-Master consigned with Boston-based RR Auction.

The auction house told Coronet that 16 bidders from four continents participated in the auction. The final price reached $2,165,198.75 when including the buyer's premium ($1,730,559 without).

Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell's Rolex GMT-Master 1675 worn on the Apollo 14 mission was only the second time a Rolex moon watch had been auctioned off. The other time was in 2009, when Apollo 17 Command Module Pilot Ron Evans' Rolex GMT-Master was sold for $131,450. Evans’ watch was bought by Rolex.

"[Mitchell’s daughter Karlyn] wasn't eager to consign it. It was very sentimental to her," Bobby Livingston, Executive Vice-President at RR Auction, told Coronet. “But she understood it had incredible value and it should get into the hands of the next generation of watch collectors and institutions that are going to take care of it.”

The auction house was not allowed to confirm whether Rolex bought Mitchell's watch. But “the winning bidder, who wishes to remain anonymous, was an international buyer,” Livingston said.

Coronet’s coverage: Mystery Surrounds Edgar Mitchell's Other Moon Watch … Did Mitchell Actually Wear His Rolex on the Moon? … Was Mitchell's GMT a Gift From Rolex? … Don't Bother Bidding on This Watch. Rolex Will Likely Buy It

More Temporary Workers Are Used to Produce Watches

(Photo credit: Rolex)

After hiring heavily and struggling to find enough qualified workers, the watch industry is doing an about-face. Unia, a Swiss trade union that represents workers in the watchmaking sector, including at Rolex, is complaining about the increased use of temporary work contracts instead of permanent jobs.

Rolex, which employs more than 900 temporary workers, said it “very regularly gives temporary employees who have proven themselves the opportunity to remain in the company at the end of their assignment. Around 250 people have been hired for production for 2023 alone.”

The number of temporary work contracts issued has increased six fold in the last 30 years, according to the Secrétariat d'Etat à l'économie, a Swiss government agency. The watchmaking industry is particularly affected; some major brands are currently only hiring interim employees for their production workshops, according to Unia.

Earlier this year, Unia and the watch industry signed a collective labor agreement for 55,000 employees at more than 500 watch brands, including Rolex. Starting next year, temp workers who have been employed for over 24 months will have to be provided with a contrat de durée indéterminée, or permanent position. Rolex is already complying with that requirement.

Mystery Surrounds Edgar Mitchell's Other Moon Watch

As the auction of a Rolex GMT-Master that flew on Apollo 14 will likely top $1 million this week, video archives now reveal NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell may have brought another personal watch to the moon though few agree on what it is.

An unearthed footage of Mitchell suiting up captures the astronaut putting the mystery watch on his left wrist. The NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster was worn higher, above the suit sleeve, and the GMT-Master on his right wrist.

Philip Corneille, a space-watch expert who runs the Moonwatch Universe blog, told me the third watch may be another Rolex, a GMT-Master “Rootbeer” 1675/3, while watch spotting expert Nick Gould believes the cream-color-dial piece doesn't look like a Rolex.

The Rolex GMT-Master currently being auctioned was a gift from the astronaut to his daughter, Karlyn Mitchell, who is now consigning the piece with RR Auction. The mystery watch is likely in the possession of his other biological daughter, Elizabeth, and could come to auction soon.

When I asked RR Auction about Mitchell's other timepiece, Executive Vice-President Bobby Livingston told me, “I've not been approached about the second watch.”

According to the Apollo 14 Mission Onboard Voice Transcription recorded on the Command Module, Mitchell said at 23:53:08 on the ninth day: “Just a minute, I can't get my watch.” That prompted mission commander Alan Shepard to say: “You got so many watches, you can't pull your arm up.”

(Photo credit: Jake’s Rolex World)