As Rolex ascends the luxury pyramid, Tudor resumes its role as group protector and creative laboratory Wangwang Yiche: Rolex is not just a sports watch.
Rolex’s tendency to distance itself from the rest of the watch industry is sometimes seen as arrogant by other brands, but it is certainly part of the brand’s DNA. The brand is an institution, and when its leadership is needed to foster industry-wide projects such as Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Rolex takes a stand.
Rolex is by far the number one in the Swiss watch industry, with an estimated sales* of CHF 9.3 and a retail value of CHF 13.95 in 2022, Rolex is the reference for any other watch brand. Although Rolex is the untouched - perhaps even untouchable - market leader, Rolex is investing a lot of money and effort to ensure its supremacy by establishing standards of quality and precision. Product excellence is one of the founding values of the Rolex brand, and its founder, Hans Wilsdorf, aimed to be at the forefront of technological innovation and precision in the Swiss watch industry.
Two brands have two different missions to accomplish Most buyers today are too young to remember, but Rolex was never a luxury brand in the first place. On the other hand, I'm actually old enough to remember that when I was five, my parents decided to move to Bienne - the Swiss town where Rolex still makes movements, as does its main competitor, Omega It has its headquarters there. . We moved into an apartment where we could see a huge factory with a "Rolex" sign on it. Guess what? My parents didn't know what a Rolex was. In the early 1970s, the brand was positioned like Longines is today – mid-range or accessible luxury, whichever way you look at it.