{"id":15902,"date":"2026-02-22T22:55:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/15902\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T22:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:55:23","slug":"is-a-rolex-monopoly-dangerous-to-the-swiss-watch-industry-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/15902\/","title":{"rendered":"Is A Rolex Monopoly Dangerous To The Swiss Watch Industry?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WatchPro\"WatchProWatchPro editor-at-large Rob Corder.<\/p>\n

What are the dangers of one business dominating an entire industry in the way Rolex lords over almost every luxury Swiss watch manufacturer today?<\/p>\n

This is a question I could not shake having read the 2025 report on the state of the Swiss watch industry by Morgan Stanley \/ LuxeConsult, which catalogues the staggering dominance of The Crown.<\/p>\n

Morgan Stanley estimates that Rolex sales topped CHF 11bn in 2025, up 4% over 2024 despite volumes decreasing for a second consecutive year to 1.15 million watches.<\/p>\n

As a single brand, Rolex commands 33% of all Swiss watch sales, that rises to 34.4% when you add in its stablemate Tudor.<\/p>\n

Turnover was up for Rolex while production was down thanks to a 6% increase in average selling prices to CHF 14,000.<\/p>\n

At retail prices, you have to add together the market share of the next five biggest brands: Cartier, Patek Philippe, Omega and Audemars Piguet to reach Rolex\u2019s sales of just over CHF 16 billion.<\/p>\n

In the critical CHF 5,000 to CHF 15,000 retail price point, The Crown\u2019s dominance is even greater because top ten brands AP, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille and Vacheron Constantin, play in higher price categories, where they would typically be a second, third or fourth watch in a customer\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n

Is Rolex a monopoly?<\/p>\n

Swiss watchmakers\u2019 power resides almost entirely in the luxury mechanical watch segment of the market; products priced at over CHF 5,000 at retail.<\/p>\n

Longines, Tissot and Swatch shift millions of units, but with competitors like Seiko, Casio, Citizen Watch Company, Movado, Timex and Fossil Group, they have nothing like the control of their higher end peers.<\/p>\n

If the centre of the world\u2019s CHF 5-15,000 watch market resided elsewhere, the Swiss industry would be at most a bit-part player like Germany.<\/p>\n

Rolex\u2019s domination in this price category was unprecedented in 2025 as it gained market share against rivals like Omega, Breitling, IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre. Cartier was its only major competitor to hold its own, with its share of the overall market nudging up from 8% to 9%.<\/p>\n

Does this matter?<\/p>\n

At last November\u2019s Dubai Watch Week Rolex CEO Jean-Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Dufour was asked about the balance between collaboration and healthy competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need competition to drive creativity,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

With its rising market share of the luxury watch market, there is a much greater risk that Rolex is harming competitors and choking creativity.<\/p>\n

This is the danger when a business approaches a monopoly, or near-monopoly position.<\/p>\n

To gauge how close Rolex is to a dominance that might even invite regulatory scrutiny, I had a conversation with ChatGPT about the risks of the whole market \u2014 pricing, innovation, suppliers, labour and consumers \u2014 being distorted. Here\u2019s how it went:<\/p>\n

Higher prices for customers<\/p>\n

ChatGPT: With little or no competition, the dominant firm can raise prices, reduce discounts and add hidden fees because customers have nowhere else to go. A classic effect would be margins rising while value for consumers falls.<\/p>\n

WatchPro: Rolex was able to raise its prices three times in 2025 to cover higher gold prices, a weaker US dollar, general inflation and higher tariffs in the United States. <\/p>\n

\"Rolex\"Rolex<\/p>\n

\"Rolex\"Rolex<\/p>\n

Rolex watches are never discounted by its legions of loyal authorised dealers, despite some references being a good deal more difficult to shift than others.<\/p>\n

It could also be argued there are hidden fees. For example, most authorised dealers will offer credit options, often interest-free, to buy watches from almost any other brands. They will not extend this offer for Rolex.<\/p>\n

Less innovation<\/p>\n

ChatGPT: Competition is the main driver of new products, better service and efficiency. A dominant player may innovate more slowly and protect existing products instead of replacing them.<\/p>\n

WatchPro: Rolex runs a tight ship when it comes to new collections that would cannibalise its cash cows, but it is hard to argue this is in any way detrimental. It invests heavily to keep improving Subs, Daytonas and GMTs while also introducing the likes of the Land-Dweller.<\/p>\n

It also invests in new technology (spending roughly CHF 100 million annually on machines and tools) and training its people. It holds more patents, around 1,500, than almost any other watchmaker.<\/p>\n

The quality of its service is hard to quantify. Its retailers may treat walk-in customers very differently to big-spending loyalists, but that is far from unique to Rolex.<\/p>\n

Rolex\u2019s after-sales support is better than most, particularly since it encouraged authorised dealers to invest in professional workshops that can carry out servicing and repair work.<\/p>\n

Barriers to entry for new businesses<\/p>\n

ChatGPT: A dominant company can block challengers by controlling distribution channels, locking in suppliers, using exclusive contracts, undercutting prices temporarily (predatory pricing) and owning key retail locations or data. This leads to a closed ecosystem.<\/p>\n

WatchPro: With the exception of undercutting prices of competitors, Rolex has used its power to erect almost impenetrable barriers to entry.<\/p>\n

Supplier pressure<\/p>\n

ChatGPT: Suppliers become dependent on one buyer, which means lower wholesale prices forced on them, tougher payment terms and loss of bargaining power.<\/p>\n

WatchPro: Rolex is almost entirely verticalised when it comes to production, to the point where it smelts its own gold. It obviously does have supply chains for materials and some watch parts, and no doubt works hard to secure the best price possible, but is not clear whether there are any market distorting practices.<\/p>\n

Wage suppression & fewer career options<\/p>\n

ChatGPT: If one employer dominates, workers have fewer alternatives, salaries stagnate, mobility drops. This creates a local labour monopsony.<\/p>\n

WatchPro: Switzerland has a well-regulated labour market and there are opportunities for watchmakers and strong competition for talent at major manufacturers.<\/p>\n

Political and regulatory influence<\/p>\n

ChatGPT: Huge market power often brings lobbying power, influence over regulation, ability to shape the rules in its favour.<\/p>\n

WatchPro: Tick, tick, tick.<\/p>\n

Distorted market signals<\/p>\n

ChatGPT: Prices no longer reflect true demand, true supply and real costs so capital is misallocated across the sector.<\/p>\n

WatchPro: No, no and no. If anything, Rolex could charge more, otherwise the secondary market would not be able to over-retail prices for its hottest models.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n

Is Rolex a monopoly? No. But it is an extremely dominant force capable of squeezing competition out of multibrand retail and dictating the allocation of watches to its retailers, which in turn dictate which customers get waiting list watches. <\/p>\n

With the exception of Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Cartier and Richard Mille, whose balancing power is the reason Rolex cannot be considered a monopoly, its closest competitors are losing market share and weakening.<\/p>\n

Rolex can raise prices without hurting demand, cut supply and increase desirability, dictate retail standards and showroom investment, walk away from multibrand partners and control allocations that determine retailer profitability<\/p>\n

That is classic \u201cdominance\u201d behaviour, but not quite \u201cmonopolistic\u201d. There are alternatives to Rolex, including second-hand Rolexes, it does not own its entire distribution channel and has not expanded Bucherer to the detriment of its retail partners. It certainly has pricing power, but not unlimited.<\/p>\n

Rolex does not have a legal monopoly, and is far from the only player in the crucial CHF 5-15,000 market, but it is the only one that defines it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WatchPro editor-at-large Rob Corder. What are the dangers of one business dominating an entire industry in the way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1658,41,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-15902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-switzerland","8":"tag-rolex","9":"tag-swiss","10":"tag-switzerland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}