8 Things You Should Know About Swiss Watchmaking

“If you don’t have a Rolex by the age of 50, you haven’t made it in life.” This famous quote from French advertiser Jacques Séguéla is over a decade old, but it still clearly illustrates the extraordinary symbolic dimension that the brand known for its crowning glory has acquired. Rolex watches are worn by the most famous people, from Roger Federer to Brad Pitt, passing by Donald Trump and Jay-Z. It is also the best-selling Swiss watch brand worldwide, with sales in 2019 exceeding five billion francs. That is if we accept the estimates reached by the American bank Morgan Stanley and the Swiss consulting agency LuxeConsult, because while Rolex enjoys unparalleled fame around the world, it practices complete blackout regarding the conduct of its business. Controlled by the Wilsdorf family foundation, the brand’s founder, Rolex is not listed on the stock market and its shares are not tradable. As a result, the Geneva-based company can control its communication policy as it pleases, far from the transparency rules imposed by the stock market. While there are around 350 brands that carry the “Swiss Made” label, they are not all in the same category or segment. The five most powerful brands alone share 50% of the watchmaking pie, with the untouchable Rolex behind them, followed by Omega (Swatch Group, 2.34 billion), Longines (Swatch Group, 1.65 billion), Cartier (Richemont Group, 1.594 billion) and Patek Philippe (1.35 billion). The closed billionaire club is completed by Tissot (Swatch Group, 1.05 billion) and Audemars Piguet (1.03 billion).

Apart from the well-performing independent brands (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille), three major groups dominate the Swiss watch market:

– Swatch Group (external link), the world’s number one watchmaker, although listed on the Swiss stock exchange, the Hayek family and its relatives control around 40% of its capital.

– Richemont (external link), founded by South African Johann Rupert, is listed on the Swiss and South African stock exchanges.

– LVMH (external link), the world’s number one watch and luxury goods group, led by Frenchman Bernard Arnault, based in Paris and listed on the Paris stock exchange.