A Rolex SA subsidiary bought a building, which houses rival Omega’s flagship boutique, on Geneva’s priciest shopping street in the latest battle between between top Swiss watch brands for prime real estate.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Bloomberg
Marconi Investment SA paid CHF120 million ($133 million) for the building on Rue du Rhone, according to a filing with Geneva’s land registry.
More
More
Bucherer: a Swiss luxury brand ahead of its time
This content was published on
News of Bucherer’s sale to Rolex has stunned the luxury world. The brand has a long history of springing surprises on the industry.
The property’s tenants include the biggest boutique for Swatch Group AG’s top brand Omega in the Swiss city, according to local newspaper Tribune de Geneve, which reported the news earlier.
The real estate deal underscores the intense competition between brands both for customers and the best located stores.
Omega will now be writing a sizable rent check to its biggest competitor each month and Rolex will have a say in how the building is maintained and operates. Under certain conditions, a new owner can more easily terminate an existing lease, the Tribune de Geneve reported.
More
More
Rolex to buy Swiss luxury retailer Bucherer
This content was published on
The deal will give the biggest Swiss watch brand a major foothold in consumer sales for the first time.
Spokespeople for Rolex and Swatch Group declined to comment.
Rolex is the biggest Swiss brand with sales of CHF9.3 billion, according to Morgan Stanley estimates. Omega is the third largest with sales of about CHF2.5 billion. Geneva-based Richemont’s Cartier is the second biggest watch brand.
Rolex, which is controlled by a foundation named for its founder Hans Wilsdorf, is a major owner of real estate in its home city of Geneva.
Swatch Group is also a major investor in real estate. It said last month it bought a building on London’s New Bond Street, housing its jewelry brand Harry Winston for about CHF90 million.
Swatch has also bought other buildings on London’s Old Bond Street for about CHF120 million as well as a store on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.
In 2014, Swatch purchased a retail location on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich from Credit Suisse housing the Bongenie Grieder luxury clothing store for an undisclosed price.
Bongenie Grieder, which is controlled by the family of Rolex chairman Nicolas Brunschwig, will move its flagship Zurich store to a new location in 2024.
Rolex in August said it would acquire Swiss luxury watch retailer Bucherer AG and its 100 global boutiques. Bucherer sells several Swatch Group brands at some of its stores including Longines, Tissot and Omega.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Swiss foreign minister backs Berset at Council of Europe
This content was published on
Cassis described Berset as the "ideal candidate" to help the Council realise its aim of ensuring security and peace in Europe.
Gay conversion therapy banned in Swiss canton of Valais
This content was published on
On Thursday, the canton approved a new Health Act which includes a ban on therapies aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity.
This content was published on
Some aspects of pro-Palestine sit-ins have gone too far, but the right to protest and debate must be upheld, the student association has said.
Swiss LGTBIQ helpline: attacks more than doubled in 2023
This content was published on
Three organisations jointly operating a helpline have called for more awareness, action and funding to address discrimination.
This content was published on
Switzerland's economy grew slightly at the start of 2024, with growth in the service sector contrasting with weak growth in industry.
Swiss employment rate rises in first quarter of 2024
This content was published on
The number of women and foreign nationals in employment increased particularly strongly, the Federal Statistical Office said on Thursday.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss watch exports post first monthly decline in two years
This content was published on
Swiss watch exports declined slightly in July, the first monthly drop in more than two years, as demand for pricey timepieces begins to slow.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.