Rolex personalisation gets the green light from Swiss Supreme Court

An unnamed business that personalises Rolex watches has secured a high court ruling in Switzerland that will allow it to continue tinkering with Rolex timepieces.

The case reached the Swiss Federal Supreme Court after the third party custom watch specialist appealed an earlier ruling that found in favour of Rolex, which fiercely defends itself if any business sets out to profit from the stature of its brand while altering its watches.

The case hinged on the difference between personalising watches on behalf of a client, which was deemed acceptable, and the general marketing of modified Rolex watches, which falls foul of its intellectual property rights protections.

The Federal Supreme Court ruled that the lower court had shown a “profound misunderstanding” of the difference between personalisation of a client’s own watch and the marketing of modified watches.

The case covers many of the same issues raised in a lawsuit Rolex raised against La Californienne, a Californian firm that used to sell customised Rolex and Cartier watches before launching a line under its own name.

La Californienne fell foul of the law because it was buying Rolex watches, customising them, and then marketing them in a way that might have confused clients into thinking that their business was in some way associated with the Swiss giant.

This week’s ruling in Switzerland would not have saved La Californienne because it made clear that only clients’ watches could be customised, and could not be marketed in any way as Rolex-approved products.

The key to staying on the right side of the law appears to hinge on who owns the watches that have been altered. If the customiser owns the watches, changes their appearance, and then markets them as Rolex watches, then it is breaking the law.

If a company markets its service to personalise a client’s watch, then it is in the clear.

Rolex has not commented.