Rolex is the largest Swiss watch brand by sales, with an estimated $13.2 billion (CHF 11 billion) in 2025 retail sales and about 1.15 million watches. It is headquartered in Geneva and employs more than 15,000 people worldwide, about 10,000 of them in Switzerland. Its owner, the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, has held the company since 1960 and funds charitable work in Geneva. Rolex also owns Tudor and, since 2023, the Bucherer retail group. Jean-Frédéric Dufour has been CEO since 2015. The company is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
Rolex earns almost all of its revenue from new watches sold under the Rolex brand, with a smaller contribution from its sister brand Tudor and after-sales service. Two features define the model. First, vertical integration: Rolex designs, makes, assembles and tests its watches in Switzerland across four sites (Acacias in Geneva for headquarters and assembly, Bienne for movements, Plan-les-Ouates for cases and bracelets, and Chêne-Bourg for dials, Cerachrom bezels and gem-setting), and it casts its own gold alloys and Oystersteel. Second, controlled distribution: Rolex sells wholesale to independent Official Rolex Retailers and allocates supply to them, which keeps prices firm and waiting lists long. Since buying Bucherer in 2023 it also owns a large retail chain, and since December 2022 it has run a Certified Pre-Owned scheme through its retailers.