It looks like Rolex is playing favorites.
The Swiss watchmaker has raised its prices in the United Kingdom but not the United States, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The price of Rolex models at U.K. dealers increased by an average of about 4 percent at the start of this year, according to a report by analysts at Barclays. The price of a Rolex Air King, for instance, jumped from £6,250 (approximately $7,919) in 2023 to £6,500 ($8,206) in 2024, Barclays analysts wrote. Prices at U.S. dealers remain unchanged.
The Crown typically hikes prices once a year in January, though the amount and frequency changes from market to market. (Robb Report reached out to Rolex for more context regarding the latest price change, but the watchmaker did not immediately respond.)
Last year, Rolex increased prices in both the U.S. and U.K. by an average of roughly 2.5 percent. U.K. boutiques have reportedly seen an average price hike of about 2.6 percent, while U.S. dealers have been subject to an average increase of around 2.2 percent.
The broader economic environment undoubtedly influences price increases. Raising prices is a way for Rolex to protect its profit margins amid rising inflation, shaky currencies, and other economic headwinds. In 2022, Rolex lifted prices twice in the U.K. as the pound sunk to a 37-year low against the dollar. The same year, the Crown hiked prices three times in the U.S. in response to currency fluctuations. Rolex also raised prices in European countries twice in 2022.
Suffice to say, steeper price tags haven’t impeded sales. Rolex offloads more than $10.5 billion worth of watches every year, as per Morgan Stanley estimates. Headquartered in Geneva, the Crown is also one of the world’s largest watch manufacturers, producing more than one million timepieces a year. It currently has several production sites in Switzerland, with cases, dials, testing, and assembly plants near Geneva, as well as a movements production site in Bienn of nearly a million square feet. In addition, Rolex is building three temporary production sites in Switzerland to cater to the unprecedented demand for its wrist candy. It is also planning to launch a new $1.1 billion factory in Bulle in 2029. At least production should remain steady, even if prices don’t.
