How many watches does Rolex produce per year

The Rolex watch brand, based in Switzerland and founded in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf, is internationally known for luxury watches of the finest quality and highest precision. We are undoubtedly dealing with one of the watch brands that enjoys an impeccable reputation worldwide and whose watches collectors are licking their fingers over. Because: A Rolex is a top-class status symbol, has excellent value stability and ensures that you are guaranteed to attract all eyes on your wrist. But anyone who thinks that you only need the necessary budget to be able to call such a luxury watch in a sought-after reference your own is very much mistaken. After all, buying it usually involves long waiting times. Why? Quite simply: the demand for the fine watches far exceeds the supply. In this article, we take a close look at the volume of the annual production of the Swiss brand Rolex and examine the effects of the limited quantities on the market.

Curiosity about Rolex’s annual production volume

When you look at the immense demand for Rolex watches and see how they change hands on the secondary market for many times the list price , the question automatically arises: How many watches does Rolex produce per year? A question that every die-hard watch collector, investor and fan of the brand has probably already dealt with - and to which there is unfortunately no 100% reliable answer.

No other brand's production is surrounded by as many myths, speculations and mysteries as that of the Rolex company. There are numerous forums and platforms online where exactly this is discussed thread after thread. And if two watch lovers meet "in person", the chances are good that sooner or later they will end up talking about this very topic. Logically: Anyone who wants a certain Rolex watch would give a lot to find out exactly how much patience they would need to finally be able to hold the model of their choice in their hands.

As a result, numerous retailers whose product range includes Rolex watches are constantly receiving customer inquiries asking for figures on Rolex production volumes - inquiries that even the most renowned dealers cannot answer precisely.

The Secrecy of Rolex

The reason for the speculation about the number of Rolex collections produced each year is obvious: the Swiss luxury watch company keeps this information a secret. Anyone who does not receive a satisfactory answer from their dealer and therefore turns directly to Rolex as the next step must prepare for disappointment.

In contrast to the production volumes, a lot is known about the production sites. Rolex's headquarters are in Geneva, where the development and assembly of the watches takes place. Dials and Cerachrom parts are made in Chêne-Bourg, and a large part of the other equipment is produced in the factory in Plan-les-Ouates. And the watch movements that are admired all over the world? They are manufactured in Biel, also in Switzerland. In the future, the Rolex factories will also be supplemented by a completely new site, which is currently being built in Bulle, Canton Fribourg.

Estimates of Rolex's annual production

As already mentioned, Rolex - unlike many other watch manufacturers in the luxury segment - does not publish figures on annual production, and the chronometer testing institute COSC also does not reveal how many models leave the Rolex factory per year.

Nevertheless, there are estimates that can be found in the report "State of the Industry - Swiss Watchmaking in 2022" by the US company Morgan Stanley. As an investment banking firm, Morgan Stanley publishes a respected report every year that looks at the current state of the watch industry. The 2022 edition contains a rough estimate of Rolex's annual production, which is put at 1.05 million.

To put this number into perspective, let's take a look at how many watches other brands bring onto the market each year. The Swiss manufacturer Patek Philippe produces around 68,000 watches per year, Breitling produces around 170,000 pieces annually, and Omega produces an impressive 570,000 pieces.

However, there are also brands whose production figures are higher than those of Rolex. For example, there is Longines with 1.8 million and Swatch with an incredible 3.2 million timepieces that "roll off the production line" every year. Nevertheless, Rolex is clearly one of the watch brands with the highest production, which once again vividly underlines the brand's great popularity. After all, despite impressive figures, there is demand that is far higher than supply.

The Impact of Production Volume on Rolex

Before we look in detail at what the production volume means for customers or for those interested in becoming customers, let's look at the company itself. How does the estimated production volume of 1.05 million affect the Swiss company?

One thing is clear: no matter how many watches Rolex produces, there are nowhere near enough to even come close to saturating the market. And that has major advantages for the brand, of course. The astronomically high demand ensures consistently excellent sales figures and virtually guarantees that new models and collections are always sold out in no time. Rolex has been generating gigantic sales for years and decades and has a market share of over 28%. This puts the watch brand clearly in the lead, followed by the Omega brand, which has a market share of just under 8%.

How Rolex manages the high demand for its watches

Rolex definitely doesn't have to worry about not selling enough of the watches it produces or having to deal with falling demand. Instead, the company has to deal intensively with a completely different matter that lies at the other end of the "problem scale": managing the immense demand.

Which brings us to another question that is on the minds of many a watch collector: How is it decided who gets a Rolex and who gets nothing? And what does an "average consumer" have to do to get his hands on such an exclusive wristwatch?

The usual way to get a Rolex is through a specialist dealer. These special dealers are supplied with a few Rolex watches each year and are responsible for selling them to selected customers at the set list price. In the case of rare, very popular models - such as the Rolex Daytona - it can be assumed that the dealer is faced with a small contingent of watches and a long list of interested parties. He will therefore probably turn to regular customers first. Whatever is left over may then be offered to the lucky new customer.

It is important to know that simply being on the interested parties list does not mean that you will one day get the chance to invest in a Rolex. The interested parties list is not the same as the official waiting list. Often there are far more people on the interested parties list than can be supplied with the model of their choice in decades. A certain level of commitment is only given when the dealer notifies you of the final inclusion on the actual waiting list.

The exclusivity and market value of Rolex watches

To explain how exclusivity affects the market value of Rolex watches, we must first look at the difference between the list price and the prices on the secondary market. The list price is the price that the dealer charges for the models. On the secondary market, however, demand determines the price. There, timepieces are offered by private individuals and investors, with prices for popular models usually being well above the list price.

Because Rolex cannot meet the high demand for popular models with the annual production volume, buying on the secondary market is often the quickest and easiest way to get a watch from the Swiss brand. Financially strong watch fans are often happy to accept the sometimes horrendous prices in order to avoid the long wait. Accordingly, the market value of a Rolex watch can be several times higher than the list price immediately after purchase from the dealer. Such models are therefore ideal as an investment, as they promise extremely high value stability and are therefore considered a fairly safe investment.

How the availability of Rolex watches affects the collector market

For collectors, the models that are typically particularly interesting are those that are produced in particularly small numbers and can therefore only be purchased through a dealer with a lot of luck and a long waiting time. After all, it is precisely these watches that increase the value of a collection immensely and make the hearts of watch fans beat faster.

In concrete terms, this means that you have to expect to wait around twenty years for a Rolex Daytona reference 116500LN, for example. You have to wait about the same amount of time for a GMT-Master II “Pepsi” with a red and blue bezel, while the “Batman” version is much easier to get, with a waiting time of just seven years. Nevertheless, if you want nothing more than to be able to call the watch your own, seven years is still a time that can feel like half an eternity.

In their search for their favorite Rolex, watch lovers often, understandably, turn to the secondary market. There are no waiting times there, meaning that the patience of prospective buyers is spared. But the exact opposite is true for their wallets: they are burdened by prices that are quite high. If you want to buy a Rolex of a sought-after reference in good condition, the investment is comparatively large and the sums involved grow far beyond the purely objective value of the models.

Despite everything, most watch collectors would certainly agree with the following: Regardless of whether you bought it from a dealer or on the secondary market, the effort will have paid off when you finally have the longed-for watch on your wrist.

Collectors and their perspective on Rolex

Now you might think that die-hard collectors would be quite annoyed, given the low production quantities and the prices that are being asked for on the secondary market. But that is only the case in very rare cases. Many people who are particularly interested in high-priced watches more than appreciate the value of these fine pieces. And they are fully aware that this value is largely determined by the high demand that is faced with a low supply.

If a Rolex watch were produced in such abundance that anyone interested could buy one immediately and without any detours, these models would be of little interest to most collectors. The exclusivity of the Swiss brand - along with a number of other factors - ultimately leads to it being preferred over other watch brands with higher production. The scarcity of products is certainly a serious aspect when it comes to understanding the fascination that Rolex exerts on watch lovers.

The same applies to investors: If you are buying a Rolex as an investment, it makes sense to choose popular models. While many watches from other watch brands hardly increase in value over the years or even lose value, with an exclusive Rolex model you can be relatively sure that the price development will be in your favor.

However, there is something that people who want to make money from a Rolex should definitely know: models that are bought through dealers should not be sold immediately for a profit after purchase. The reason for this is a kind of unwritten law that is sacred to most dealers. It states that a freshly purchased Rolex cannot be resold immediately after purchase for several times the dealer price.

If you don't comply and are caught red-handed, you can expect to find your name on a "blacklist" immediately. This in turn means that you shouldn't be surprised if you are no longer offered a watch by this dealer in the coming years and decades. Incidentally, this practice is not only common in connection with Rolex, but is also practiced when selling watches from other brands.

So you should remember: If you already know when you are looking that you want to sell the watch again quickly, then buying it on the secondary market is the only option. Otherwise, you will have to live with the fact that you will be unpopular with your trusted dealer for a very long time.

Rolex's strategy and growth prospects

Rolex's strategy is as simple as it is ingenious: the manufacturer increases its production volume only slightly per year, while demand for the models increases enormously year after year. This ensures that demand far exceeds supply in the long term, which optimally maintains the brand's image as an extremely exclusive provider. At the same time, the course is set again and again for an increasing market value and Rolex can be sure of generating record sales every year.

Even if the manufacturer itself is keeping quiet about the volume of production, it is unlikely that there will be any major jumps in production volume in the near future. Rather, there is much to suggest that Rolex will continue to increase the number of timepieces produced each year only in small steps. Instead of suddenly producing a large number of watches, Rolex will probably continue to focus on a relatively small contingent in the future, thus virtually preventing collectors and investors from losing interest in the legendary models.

Conclusion: The Secrets of Rolex's Production Volume

Whether it's the Rolex Daytona or the GMT-Master II : the Geneva-based watch giant's range includes numerous iconic timepieces that many a watch fan would willingly give their last shirt for. These incomparably popular watches have been at the top of many collectors' and investors' wish lists for many years and there is no sign of that changing anytime soon.

The watch brand founded by Hans Wilsdorf, whose sales, market share and worldwide popularity are hard to beat, is extremely secretive about its production volume. If it weren't for the Morgan Stanley report, almost nothing would be known about it. But we do know that Rolex produces around 1.05 million timepieces every year. A number that doesn't come anywhere close to what the market is crying out for - and that is probably one of the most important ingredients in the "Rolex recipe for success".