Over the last few years, Rolex has been witnessing an unprecedented demand for its watches, resulting in an ever-widening gap between demand and supply. It has reached to a level where purchasing some of the most desirable Rolex watches at retail is almost impossible. To address this problem, the world’s largest maker of high-end watches is opening three temporary production sites in Switzerland, according to a report by Bloomberg. The construction work for the three production facilities will begin later this year and they should be ready to churn out watches by 2025. These temporary factories will help Rolex meet the unprecedented demand till the company’s new $1.1 billion factory nearby in Bulle isn’t complete, which is expected to commence production in 2029.
Presently, Rolex has several production units in Switzerland that manufacture different components for its watches, including a facility in Bienn that manufactures movements and assembly plants near Geneva. Although Rolex doesn’t report its official production figures, a report by Morgan Stanley suggests the Geneva-based watch brand churns out around a million watches per year, earning it a revenue of almost $8 billion in 2021. These temporary production units will help Rolex significantly ramp up its production, which will help reduce the scarcity of its watches in the market. “The new production site in Bulle, just like these three temporary installations, will allow Rolex to expand its production capacity, support growth and meet ever-increasing demand,” Rolex told Bloomberg. It will be interesting to see if the increase in production capacity will shorten the waiting period and reduce the monopoly of resellers.
Rolex to open three temporary production facilities by 2025 to meet the unprecedented demand for its watches
