Rolex buys Bucherer? Watchpro.com points out that the Tourneau/Bucherer retail chain is “probably the biggest luxury watch retailers in the world with more than 100 points of sale worldwide, half of which sell Rolex and 48 have Tudor.” Including America’s largest luxury watch store, in Vegas, of course.
Rolex needs more retailers? I don’t think so; the brand is selling everything it makes save the non-tool watches no one save the Chinese wants to buy.
My take: Rolex buys Bucherer because Rolex has a whole bunch of money sloshing around its coffers and no way to spend it on Rolex. Also, what are the odds Rolex will reduce the Bucherer’s profit margin for its own bottom line?
Anyway, here’s the full statement from Rolex, with added paragraph breaks to prevent the old ennui:
ROLEX BUYS BUCHERER
To preserve the long-standing partnership between the two companies and perpetuate their shared history, Rolex has decided to acquire Bucherer.
The watch retailer will keep its name and continue to operate independently. Its integration into the Rolex group will be effective once the competition authorities have approved the takeover transaction.
Geneva, 24 August 2023 – Following the choice made by Jörg Bucherer, in the absence of direct descendants, to sell his company’s business, Rolex has decided to acquire the watch retailer, which was until now an independent entity.
This move reflects the Geneva-based brand’s desire to perpetuate the success of Bucherer and preserve the close partnership ties that have linked both companies since 1924.
For more than 90 years, the two businesses have worked alongside one another and have each contributed to the other’s achievements and growth.
Today, Rolex stands as one of the leaders of the Swiss luxury watchmaking sector. Bucherer has become an internationally renowned multibrand retailer, with stores located in Switzerland, the United States, England, Germany, France, Denmark and Austria.
Bucherer accounts for more than 100 sales outlets worldwide, of which 53 distribute the Rolex brand and 48 distribute the Tudor brand. The watch retailer is also an official after-sales service centre for both brands. Its watch servicing workshops employ watchmakers who have been trained by the company itself and are highly qualified.
The Rolex group is convinced that this acquisition is the best solution not only for its own brands but also for all the watch and jewellery partner brands, as well as for all the employees of the Bucherer group.
Bucherer will keep its name and continue to independently run its business. The Group’s management team will remain unchanged. Bucherer’s integration into the Rolex group will be effective once the competition authorities have approved the takeover transaction.
The fruitful collaboration between Rolex and the other official retailers in its sales network will remain unchanged.
Rolex never buys anything to keep things at “arm’s length”, it buys things to integrate them into the Rolex monolith, like the purchase of Aegler. The acquistion of Bucherer probably means that Rolex will now run a “vertically integrated” retail business as well as a vertically integrated manufacure. No doubt all Bucherer stores will be rebranded as Rolex stores in the not too distant future. It also creates a number of important problems for brands like Omega, Cartier, IWC, Breitling and so on because Rolex now has access to commercial information about their watch sales via Bucherer that it can use to its advantage and their detriment. I cannot see Swatch Group, LVMH and Richemont being happy to continue to sell through Bucherer stores knowing that Rolex can access the sensitive financial information between manufacturer and retailer. Rolex can also undermine their market position by heavily discounting Cartier and Omega etc through Bucherer/Rolex stores. Apparently the acquistion has been referred to the Swiss Monopolies and Competition Authority as a result. In any event Rolex probably do not want to sell watches like the Zenith Chronomaster Sport, Omega Seamaster Diver or Speedmaster Professional as these will tend to cannabalise sales of Daytonas and Submariners etc. It is interesting that the Carl F. Bucherer watch brand is included in the sale. This potentially means that Rolex now runs three watch brands, Rolex, Tudor and Carl F. Bucherer, which would allow it to bulk out the inventory when there is another confected “shortage” of Rolex watches.