Rolex To Open Three Temporary Factories To Meet Increased Demand: Bloomberg

The new factories are a stopgap until a new permanent factory opens in 2029

When it comes to Rolex, there are, in general, very few things to complain about. At least at retail, the watches are of such high quality as to represent one of the best price-to-value ratios in the business and if it’s heritage and real-world credentials you’re looking for, Rolex, with its long history of use everywhere from physics labs to mountaintops to the depths of the ocean, is hard to beat.

However, the one thing about which many enthusiasts, as well as just plain old regular folks who just want a good watch and for whom “Rolex” is both familiar and synonymous with quality, do complain about is the fact that getting the most desirable Rolex watches at retail is precisely what most of us can’t do – at least, not without considerable luck, a previous healthy relationship as a client with a Rolex retailer, or both. The quickest way to acquire a steel Rolex Professional model is, of course, to go the pre-owned route (and in fact, Rolex, as it’s widely known, is getting into the certified pre-owned business) but there is no denying that there is something special about being able to get a brand new Rolex, fresh out of the oven, for your very own.

Rolex has been criticized here and there for not ramping up production, but the problem is more challenging than it might seem. For Rolex to maintain its very high standards of production and quality control, it has to run highly rationalized production lines which balance production numbers against the number of steps needed not to just make watches, but also to ensure each watch meets quality standards.

This means that the company can’t just run its existing production lines at double capacity – this would be completely impractical from a QC standpoint, and also completely unsustainable on every level, from supply chain management to production line equipment maintenance.

However, Rolex is obviously aware that it would be desirable to narrow the gap between supply and demand, and to do so, the company announced that it will create three new temporary factories, to open in 2025.

Reporting for Bloomberg Pursuits, Andy Hoffman writes:

“Rolex SA will create three temporary production facilities that will begin churning out luxury watches in 2025, as the world’s largest maker of high-end timepieces seeks to boost output amid unprecedented demand for its products. Construction on the facilities in the canton of Fribourg starts later this year, Rolex said in an email. The capacity follows plans to spend 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.1 billion) on a major new production site in Bulle, also in the canton of Fribourg, that is expected to commence operations in 2029.”

We’ll have to wait and see to what extent the new production capacity shortens waiting lists and gets Rolex watches back in store windows, but anything’s bound to be an improvement.

Read the full story at Bloomberg Pursuits (subscription required).