Rolex and the watch ranking for 2023.

[mario1971]

The Swiss watch industry ended 2023 with record sales of CHF 26.7 billion, of which CHF 25.5 billion went to wristwatches (+7.7%), with a total of 16.9 million units sold. The annual report was published by Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult.

Rolex made history by becoming the first Swiss watch brand to exceed the CHF 10 billion mark. Additionally, it strengthened its dominant position on the market, gaining a significant 30.3% share in the retail market. No other luxury brand can boast such a dominant presence in its product segment.

The first nine brands did not change their positions in the ranking.

[harvey]

…thank you for sharing.

[Masteryacht]

Wow, Lange and Journe don’t sell many watches at all.

[Blanch]

Nice

[Hadiy]

Congrats to Rolex, I hope they keep the record this year too

[ltmgeller]

[Dusty_Kid]

[enjoythemusic]

Most impressing numbers. Very impressive and congrats to all.

[Krash]

Originally Posted by Masteryacht

Wow, Lange and Journe don’t sell many watches at all.

I’m surprised Richard Mille produces almost the same amount as Lange.

I thought Richard Mille was low volume and more inline with Journe.


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[Old Expat Beast]

Surprised to see Tissot estimated to have sold the second-highest number of units after Swatch watches. I wonder how Casio and Seiko unit sales would compare.

[enjoythemusic]

The top three manufacturers by value, as chosen by timepiece consumers globally, are Rolex, Cartier, and Omega during 2023. We lovers of timepieces have spoken. Let us all gladly welcome the new Holy Trinity with Rolex, Cartier, and Omega.

Of course we all know the whole Trinity thing is soooo 60 years outdated and has zero relevance, yet it's fun to make fun of ourselves too. Major congrats to Rolex, Cartier, and Omega, may you live long and prosper.

[rockysw]

incredible to be reminded of that rolex makes over 1m watches. That is a lot of watches, a lot. Regardless of how sought after they may be, it is hard to think of them as "special" in the context of total number of rolex watches out there.

[Pamfan]

I’ve just not yet been interested in Cartier. Maybe one day.


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[THC]

Richard Mille average watch price is a quarter of a million, so them being so high up the list is a bit skewed imo

600 units sold all year

[Krash]

Originally Posted by THC

Richard Mille average watch price is a quarter of a million, so them being so high up the list is a bit skewed imo

600 units sold all year

5,600 sold, not 600.

That’s almost as much Lange and three times more than FP Journe.

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[luk4s83]

1.2 million Rolex watches sold, number one in revenue, that's not a surprise I guess. What's crazy to me is Swatch with 5.8 million watches sold, wow. Looks like Moonswatch was a huge success. I'm surprised with low Tudor numbers though...

[WatchGuy1966]

Originally Posted by luk4s83

1.2 million Rolex watches sold, number one in revenue, that's not a surprise I guess. What's crazy to me is Swatch with 5.8 million watches sold, wow. Looks like Moonswatch was a huge success. I'm surprised with low Tudor numbers though...

yes those plus many others I didn't comprehend. very interesting. I didn't realize how some brands resonate with a worldwide audience.

[HHIslander]

Brietlings rise is impressive and JLCs fall makes me sad.

Thanks for posting OP.

[alphadweller]

Wow, the crown's killing it! Congrats to the brand and to all of us fans and owners.

[1William]

Interesting data and a lot of implications depending on how it is interpreted. One thing is for sure though, Rolex is at the top with no serious contenders.

[Njkdog]

Originally Posted by rockysw

incredible to be reminded of that rolex makes over 1m watches. That is a lot of watches, a lot. Regardless of how sought after they may be, it is hard to think of them as "special" in the context of total number of rolex watches out there.

That’s still pretty special once spread out amongst the whole entire world.
I mean, there’s about doubled that amount of cars in New York City alone, and that’s just one city.
Delhi has over 13 million cars.

[7enderbender]

The only surprise here is that Cartier ranks so high. Where do they sell those? I rarely see people with Cartiers. Middle East?
And I think JLC and Blancpain should be able to sell more. Blancpain was one of the brands that saved the watch industry.

[colonelpurple]

Interesting, thanks for posting.
No operating profit margin, which would be very interesting!

1. Look at the ratios. Role has to make 24x the watches of Audemars, only to make 5x the turnover.

2. Rolex is only one of 4 companies making watches in the millions, and one is swatch. Than means that in real terms, Rolex is not very exclusive.

This is a good business to be in, but beware, in my observation, the recession has really started to bite at the end of 2023 and into 2024. Lots of mid range watches are unsold. I think that 2024 figures will be down on these. Bottom line, don't expect your values to hold up!

[brandrea]

I like FP Journe’s watches and numbers … low volume, high selling price.

[Krash]

Originally Posted by colonelpurple

2. Rolex is only one of 4 companies making watches in the millions, and one is swatch. Than means that in real terms, Rolex is not very exclusive.

Actually, one million sounds like a big number but it’s only 00.01% of the world population, which is 8.1 billion.

If you consider the richest 1% of the United States, we’re still talking about 3.3 million people.

So they’re not as exclusive as Patek Phillipe, Richard Mille, or FP Journe, but I’d still put Rolex in the category of being exclusive.


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[colonelpurple]

Originally Posted by Krash

Actually, one million sounds like a big number but it’s only 00.01% of the world population, which is 8.1 billion.

If you consider the richest 1% of the United States, we’re still talking about 3.3 million people.

So they’re not as exclusive as Patek Phillipe, Richard Mille, or FP Journe, but I’d still put Rolex in the category of being exclusive.


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yes, it is very locality dependent !

[bp1000]

Thank you for sharing.

Very interesting how some of these brands are managing to increase production by 10% or more year on year.

Rolex is really streamlining its production too. You can see that with the uniformity in the new Daytona between all metals and options.

[RyanJ]

Originally Posted by 7enderbender

The only surprise here is that Cartier ranks so high. Where do they sell those? I rarely see people with Cartiers. Middle East?
And I think JLC and Blancpain should be able to sell more. Blancpain was one of the brands that saved the watch industry.

You are looking at this from a collector/watch person perspective. Most people buy on hype.

Cartier is also a great brand for jewelry and they advertise like crazy. Makes sense that their watches sell so much.

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by Masteryacht

Wow, Lange and Journe don’t sell many watches at all.

That jumped out at me, too!

[egamos]

Very nice! thanks for sharing.