ROLEX, the esteemed Swiss watchmaker, has implemented a 4 per cent price hike on select precious metal timepieces in the United Kingdom, attributing the adjustment to the surge in gold prices reaching record highs.
According to data gleaned from Rolex’s UK website and monitored by Bloomberg News, the retail price of the Rolex Daytona chronograph in white gold has escalated by 4 per cent, climbing from £37,200 to £38,700 as of June 1.
Similarly, the cost of a yellow gold GMT Master II witnessed an increase from £34,000 to £35,400.
The pricing of Rolex timepieces in specific countries serves as a barometer of economic vitality. As the leading luxury watch brand globally, Rolex annually manufactures over one million timepieces, generating sales exceeding 10 billion Swiss francs (S$15 billion).
The surge in gold prices, escalating by 14 per cent this year and peaking at US$2,450 per ounce in May, has been attributed to optimism surrounding potential interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Moreover, the British pound has soared to its highest level against the euro since August 2022.
A spokesperson for Rolex in Geneva declined to comment on the price adjustments.
Traditionally, Rolex revises its prices annually in January. Earlier this year, the brand increased prices in the UK by approximately 4 per cent for certain models, including select steel watches, while keeping prices unchanged in the US.
The volatility of major currencies prompted Rolex to implement price adjustments twice in the UK in 2022, first in January and subsequently in September, as the pound plummeted to its lowest levels against the US dollar in decades. Additionally, Rolex adjusted prices upward in European countries on two occasions during the same year.
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