Does Rolex Sell Anything Other than Watches?
The short answer to that is no. Rolex does not sell anything other than watches. But we’re going to elaborate on this and discuss Rolex more in-depth. Rolex was founded in 1905 in London, England under the name Wilsdorf & Davis. The company started out importing Hermann Aegler Swiss movement and placing them in watch cases.
They then sold these watches to jewelers, unbranded, who put their own names on the dials. Over the years, Rolex has moved more and more of its production in-house to gain greater control over the production process of its watches. Rolex has acquired companies that were previously third parties that supplied parts to Rolex. In the beginning, many aspects of the manufacturing were outsourced, including bracelets and dials, but today, Rolex manufactures its timepieces entirely in-house.
Many other watch companies make and sell other things than watches, but Rolex focuses entirely on wristwatches. There are, however, a few exceptions, but these are of course closely related to wristwatches. Rolex’s offerings can be divided into three categories:
- Watches
- Watch parts
- Servicing and maintenance
Rolex focuses on its core business instead of spreading itself thin with other items. Rolex’s main business is and will always be watches.
Rolex also has a company named Roldeco which focuses on making accessories and designing the Rolex stores. Roldeco designs the accessories that are given as gifts to clients and are not meant to be sold, so technically, this doesn’t fall in under the items that Rolex sells. Some of the accessories that Rolex makes are such accessories that other watch companies actually sell.
The Roldeco gifts are meant to be offered as complimentary gifts to clients, in particular, good VIP clients when they purchase a watch. Some of these items may include watch travel cases, perfumes, sunglasses, scarves, hats, belts, shirts, jackets, bags, wallets, cufflinks, and much more. Both Omega and Rolex, for example, sell cufflinks but as already stated, Rolex doesn’t sell them, they give them away.
The purpose of Roldeco has never been to sell items and make money that way. The purpose is more so to enhance the customer experience and enrich it with gifts and items that make people more loyal to the brand and appreciate their experience more.
In addition to watches, Rolex also sells watch parts. This is predominantly for reparation purposes. For example, if the bracelet of a Rolex watch has broken, a Rolex retailer can order a new one and install it on the watch. It also includes things like movement parts for servicing (obviously), dials, watch straps, and bracelet links.
But if you walk into an official Rolex retailer, they will have no other Rolex products for sale other than watches, with the exception of spare parts in case you need to repair your watch. However, Rolex is very strict when it comes to watch parts to prevent modifications and parts from ending up on the secondhand market. Rolex does not allow spare parts to be sold separately. Instead, they require you to have the watch for which the part is meant, and that the part is installed by the watchmaker in the store.
With all this said, Rolex technically doesn’t sell anything other than watches. This is perhaps the reason why Rolex has gotten so great at what they do. They focus on the most important part and they make sure to do it well.
Lastly, bear in mind that Rolex is 100% owned by the Hans Wilsdorf foundation which is a non-profit organization. With that said, most of Rolex’s profits are moved to charity for various philanthropic efforts. It’s no secret that Rolex does things a lot different from most of its competitors and the fact that Rolex sells nothing other than watches is yet another example of this.
