Can you Visit the Rolex Factory in Switzerland?

Can you Visit the Rolex Factory in Switzerland?

Rolex is one of the most prestigious and well-known luxury watch brands in the world. But they are also one of the most secretive. Rolex does things differently from its competitors. Rolex calls it “the Rolex way”. This means satisfying with nothing but perfection and exceptional quality.

There is a lot of mystique that surrounds the Rolex brand. As Rolex is very secretive about its new models, what it thinks, what it plans to do, and how it does things, it’s also a very intriguing brand that a lot of people are curious about.

If you’re in Switzerland – or planning a visit there, you may therefore wonder if you can visit the Rolex factory in Switzerland. A factory tour is one of the best ways to get more insight into a company, its production process, and how it works to create such popular products. Many Swiss watch brands offer curious enthusiasts and customers factory tours. This includes brands such as Girard-Perregaux, Parmigiani, IWC, Zenith, Frederique Constant, and many more. But the answer is that Rolex does not offer any factory tours to the public. 

Some of the Swiss watch brands that don’t offer factory tours have museums that you can visit to discover more about the brands. Whilst museums won’t show you the production and the work that goes into making their timepieces, they will give you an in-depth look at the brand. At the various museums in Switzerland, you’ll be able to discover lots of interesting timepieces and learn more about the history of the brand. Rolex does not have a public museum, either, as many other brands do. In 2019, OMEGA opened a brand new Museum at “La Cité du Temps” which is just spectacular. Patek Philippe also has a museum that is open to the public, and so do many other brands.

Can you visit the Rolex factory?

As 024 watch world stated:

“It’s a lot easier to obtain a visa for North Korea than to book a fully organized trip to the head office and production facilities of Rolex. Even more, you can’t actually organize this trip yourself; only when it pleases Rolex will the gates be opened and outsiders admitted.”

“The big deal is that these are Rolex factories and that very few other colleagues have ever been admitted to the always tightly closed “Oyster”. In 2014 Rolex is starting to open up a little bit more and the Facebook page it recently started is proof of this, but physical visits remain an extremely rare and exclusive affair.”

Rolex does not only have 1 factory but rather four of them. Different parts of the production process take place in different factories. One factory is dedicated to dial-making, and Les Acacias is dedicated to developing, marketing, research, communications, and some production. In the Plan-Les-Ouates factory, we find the central laboratory, cases, bracelets, and gold foundry. In Bienne, Rolex manufactures the Rolex movements.

The four Rolex factories are:

• Les Acacias: situated across the Arve River from Geneva.
• Plan-Les-Ouates: The Central Laboratory, Case Making, A Gold Foundry
• Chêne-Bourg: located to the northeast of Plan-Les-Ouates 
• Bienne: Where Rolex Movements Are Made
• Rolex Les Acacias: the most iconic facility

The bottom line is that Rolex does not offer any factory tours for the public. And considering the fact that Rolex is very secretive, it doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. Rolex has a large collection of private watches, but they do not have a public museum, either. On some rare occasions, Rolex welcomes journalists for a tour of the factory, but these are few and far between. Not just any journalist can request a factory tour and be welcomed there.