In a presentation by The Watches of Switzerland Group’s chief executive Brian Duffy in March of 2020, he revealed that 53% of group sales were coming from Rolex.
The company no longer shares information about the breakdown of sales between brands, but there is no reason to think the percentage from Rolex (and Tudor) has dropped much below half.
Little wonder the group issued a statement to the stock market this morning, providing an update that it says has been “reviewed and confirmed by the highest level of Rolex management at Rolex HQ in Geneve and locally in the UK and US”.
Watches of Switzerland statement answers some of the biggest question raised by Rolex’s acquisition of Bucherer.
“This is not a strategic move into retail by Rolex,” the group states.
Watches of Switzerland appears to have been told by Rolex that it will appoint non-executive directors to the Bucherer board, but “there will be no operational involvement by Rolex in the Bucherer business”.
Watches of Switzerland reiterates Rolex’s line on Bucherer’s decision to sell the company, which is said to have been because its 86-year-old owner Jörg Bucherer has no direct descendants to pass the business to.
“This is the best-judged reaction to the succession challenges of Bucherer SA.” Watches of Switzerland concludes.
That statement was released at 7.45am, 15 minutes before the opening bell of the London Stock Exchange, where Watches of Switzerland shares are listed.
It does not appear to have comforted investors, which have been selling shares, diving the price down by 28% in the first hour of trading.
At the time of writing, WoSG share price of 499p is the lowest since November 2020 and down from a peak of 1470p in December 2021.
Fascinating report . Watches of Switzerland are so tied to the fortunes and decisions made by their supply constrained brands that it seems their share price is increasingly in the hands of other corporations .