So is it unusual then for Rolex to raise prices like this at the start of this year? And is this just because they having to pay more for the gold that goes into them? What was the driver?
Well, it's a good question. And indeed, it is not unusual for Rolex to raise prices once a year on January 1st. But what's different this year is the amount by which they've raised prices.
So for some of the most popular models, the day date, the GMT master to models like that that are in gold have been raised by more than 8%. In fact, the precious metal Daytona Cosmograph models, the famous chronograph, have been raised by as much as 13%. Now, what is this all about?
Is it just about gold prices? Well, in part, certainly. We saw gold rise by about 27% in 2024.
And traditionally, Rolex raises prices once a year on January 1st. This year, though, those price hikes are higher than they were in 2020 for 2020 for 2 to 4% about. So this year, they took a lot more.
Are others doing something similar? What am I doing? What's Katia doing?
Is this. Is this a Rolex story? Is this an industry story?
Well, the this 2024 was not a great year for the Swiss watch industry after a massive boom and unprecedented boom in demand. You know, during the post COVID and post-COVID era, it was a tough year. Swiss watch experts were experts.
We're going to find out. We're going to confirm we're down in 20, 24 after three years of records. Now, our our other watch brands raising prices not like this because Rolex operates in a league of its own.
Rolex determines the market. Demand for its watches is almost inelastic. There remain waiting lists remain for all of its most popular models.
Although to be fair, there's no doubt that those waiting lists have come down from those unprecedented boom era. But the other brands simply don't have the pricing power that Rolex has. Rolex can raise prices and customers will continue to pay it for other brands, which certainly did raise prices during the boom.
They're now finding some pushback from customers. Brands like Omega, even Patek Philippe and Automatic PDA, customers are thinking twice about what they're paying for luxury watches. But Rolex customers continue to to to be willing to pay those increased prices.
