Rolex roughly produced around 1.24 million watches last year, earning the iconic watchmaker a revenue of $11.5 billion, according to Morgan Stanley’s annual report on luxury watches. To put that number into context, the Geneva-based brand produces around ten times as many watches as Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet combined. Yet, there are long waiting lists for many of the popular Rolex models, with some exceeding two years. In 2022, Rolex announced its plans to build a new manufacturing facility with the aim to significantly increase its production capacity. The company has now officially revealed more information on the new factory and a set of digital renderings of the complex. Set to open in 2029, the manufacturing facility is located in Bulle, a small municipality in the district of Gruyère, Switzerland.
Rolex purchased around 100,000 square meters of land for the factory for 31 million francs (~$35 million) at the end of 2022 and plans to invest more than a billion dollars to build the facility. The Swiss watch brand published an official press release last Tuesday, three days after a building permit was officially submitted and published in the Feuille officielle du canton de Fribourg. According to the release, the planned facility will consist of four production buildings connected by a central building. This building will house administration, support, catering, and meeting and relaxation areas. The main entrance will be located at the south end. The buildings are arranged in a way that makes it possible to integrate them into a park, protecting against emissions from the motorway.
According to Rolex, the new factory in Bulle will be the fifth location for the manufacturer and will employ around 2,000 workers. The headquarters of the Rolex Group, which employs around 14,000 people worldwide, 9,000 of them in Switzerland, is located in the Acacias district of Geneva. Rolex has built three temporary factories in Romont and Villaz-Saint-Pierre. Once the factory in Bulle is completed, the employees from these temporary facilities will be moved to the new factory. Furthermore, Rolex aims to attain the highest level of BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) certification for the facility. This level of certification for an industrial building will be a first in Switzerland, Rolex claims. The idea is to reduce energy consumption by 10% compared to a more conventional design.
