Rolex is raising UK watch prices, but its US pricing is unchanged

ROLEX, the top maker of Swiss watches, has raised prices in the UK while leaving its US pricing unchanged.

The Geneva-based watchmaker, known for models such as the Submariner and Daytona, increased prices at dealers in the UK by an average of about 4 per cent to start the year, according to a report by analysts at Barclays.

The price increases were previously reported by Britt Pearce, a UK-based Youtube channel, and by Screw Down Crown, a watch-focused blog.

A spokesperson for Rolex declined to comment.

While the price of a Rolex Air King model rose to £6,500 (S$10,918) on Jan one from £6,250 in 2023, prices at US dealers were unchanged, Barclays analysts wrote in a report on Watches of Switzerland Group, the top seller of Rolex watches in the UK.

When the watchmaker raises prices it typically does so once a year in January. In 2022, major currency moves spurred Rolex to raise prices twice in the UK, in January and September, as the pound skidded to its lowest level against the US dollar in decades. Rolex also hiked prices in European countries twice that year.

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Producing more than one million timepieces a year, Geneva-based Rolex sells more than 9 billion Swiss francs (S$14 billion) worth of watches per year, according to Morgan Stanley estimates. Controlled by a foundation named for company founder Hans Wilsdorf, Rolex sales account for about 30 per cent of the global luxury Swiss watch market. BLOOMBERG