At Dubai Watch Week on Nov. 19, 2025, Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour made a rare public appearance, offering a look at how the brand thinks about its future. He spoke on several topics, but the excerpts below capture a portion of his remarks on strategy and philosophy that have guided Rolex: the power of retail partnerships, the role of AI in modern manufacturing and the challenge of pushing innovation while remaining close to the brand’s traditions. He talked about CPO also. The full video of his remarks at Dubai Watch Week is here.
On Retail Partnerships
Jean-Frédéric Dufour: Partnerships are the way Rolex built its success, in a way. It’s a model we respect the most among all the models that exist. We always found the best partners locally, partners who were able to speak to their local community in the way we wanted, and who could spread the message the right way. One thing that is extremely important when we talk about partnerships is trust. We know we have to come up with the best product and the best communication, because there is a whole environment around it. We invest in our brand, in our product and in our communication, so we do the best we can. But we also have to be sure that on the other side, a family like the Seddiqi family also does the best they can. It’s a kind of magic recipe, and it’s the way the industry has worked for a very long time. Some brands now do it directly and do it very well. It depends on the scale of the brand and how many products you want to sell every year. It depends on those types of things.
(From YouTube/Dubai Watch Week)
I think every brand can have its own concept. Some are a mix. We became a bit of a mix by acquiring Bucherer, even though it represents a very small part of our distribution network. We have no intention to grow 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. All my predecessors were very good at traveling, finding the right people and presenting the watches in the shops the right way, if possible, the best way.
On Artificial Intelligence
Jean-Frédéric Dufour: We use AI in many areas. We have very modern machine-tool parts; the average age is eight years. We invest every year — I can share this with you — about 100 million Swiss francs to constantly rejuvenate these machine tools. It’s not because we find it fun, but because we want the latest generation in order to produce the best components in terms of precision and quality. And, of course, now AI is everywhere, you know what I mean. It helps you program the machines, it helps you maintain the machines, it enhances human capacity.
(From YouTube/Dubai Watch Week)
But [at Rolex] we’re not using it when it comes to human interaction. If you call after-sales service, it won’t be AI answering you. We still need that human connection. I think it’s very important we keep that in our industry. The final consumer wants to feel connected to something real. Otherwise you may as well call your banker or your insurance, whoever. But when you call Rolex, or any of us, it has to be a real connection, not AI. So yes, we use AI, but we try to use it in the best way.
At the end of the day, it’s craftsmanship. Once you have produced the parts, you need humans to assemble the components, the movement, and then to put the movement in the case, the dial, the hands, everything is done by hand. But AI can also help with the final quality test. You can replace the human eye with AI, and instead of controlling a sample of what you make, you can control 100 percent of what you make, in the most accurate way.
(From YouTube/Dubai Watch Week)
On Certified Pre-Owned
Jean-Frédéric Dufour: CPO was the last stone of what we wanted to offer customers. You trusted us, you bought your first Rolex, you wore it for a while, and maybe you want to change. What should you do? Maybe you keep it, or pass it to the next generation, but maybe you want to trade it. The idea actually came from the United States, because we noticed that in some points of sale the number-one brand was Rolex, and the number-two brand was Rolex secondhand. So we said, OK, maybe something is wrong there. With such a level of business, without being sure there won’t be any issues — because we couldn’t offer any guarantee on the product — it was maybe a little dangerous. Then came the idea of having our own CPO program. While you are there buying a watch, you can see that Rolex will always take care of you. It’s a very long-term commitment, and it builds trust. We use this word “trust” a lot, but it is very important for people in our industry. They need to trust what they buy and what they are doing. There is nothing worse than feeling betrayed when you bought something expensive; that feeling can be destructive.
Rolex Land-Dweller. (Photo: Rolex)
On Innovation
Jean-Frédéric Dufour: It’s an industry that carries so much tradition that sometimes you have trouble finding a way out of your own tradition. It comes back to education and to the people you employ, people who can bring something new, not just tradition. With the Land-Dweller we reinvented an escapement, or rather invented a new escapement, which hasn’t been done in Switzerland for a very long time. In a way it has a connection with the past, so it’s a mix where you find the DNA of the brand.
I can tell you, it is very hard to invent a Rolex when you look at all the Rolex models. You don’t want to make a square Rolex or an oval Rolex; it has to remain a Rolex. You need to find something that means something for you and also for the final customer, a balancing act between tradition and the future.