Jean-Frédéric Dufour
THE MAVERICK KING
OF THE CROWN
By Danny Crivello
"[Dufour] prend place sur le trône de l'horlogerie suisse."
—Jean-Claude Biver, 2014
Rolex signaling its intention to buy for the first time a watch retailer is part of a larger management trend I've observed at Rolex whose young, maverick CEO continues to make more bold moves than any other CEO since Hans Wilsdorf.
Under Jean-Frederic Dufour's tenure, Rolex has made many unexpected design changes for its most popular models. Just a year ago, Rolex released a GMT-Master with the crown on the left, the first such model to be available to the public, a design instigated by Mr. Dufour himself.
In March we saw the release of a Daytona with a see-through sapphire exhibition caseback, another first in the watchmaker's history. The Submariner model also broke tradition and was increased from 40mm to 41mm, in 2020, shocking some Rolex purists. Speaking of shock, the Sea-Dweller was given a Cyclops; the Explorer, the two-tone treatment and the Day-Date, emojis — all while the brand has enjoyed unprecedented success, perhaps emboldening the CEO to take more risks.
Less than a year ago, we were treated to the unveil of Rolex's first Certified Pre-Owned program which shook the industry. Jake's Rolex World was first to reveal that the Crown was working on a watch built with something different than steel and gold: a prototype titanium Rolex had been spotted in the wild. Under Mr. Dufour, it's one of the most exciting times to be a Rolex writer. And speaking of titanium, Rolex gave the public the deepest-rated watch ever to be commercialized in the world with a historical engraving on its caseback, à la Moonwatch, also a break from tradition for the brand.
Meanwhile, Rolex — more aware of its history than ever before — has gone on a vintage shopping spree, another unusual move for one of the Swiss brands that has shown the least interest in recalling vintage design cues. Last spring alone, it spent close to $10 million on vintage pieces at Geneva auctions including the most famous Pan Am watch first uncovered in these pages. After the auction, I asked a Rolex representative if a museum was in the plans. "We make no comments on potential future projects," she told me. Its newest Daytona, the 100-year-anniversary Le Mans edition, has one of the biggest nods to vintage Rolex: Paul Newman exotic subdial markers.
Finally, it was Mr Dufour's decision to break away from the biggest watch trade show in the world, the nail in the coffin for century-old Baselworld. Mr Dufour now chairs a new tradeshow foundation — a first in the history of Rolex CEOs — the Watches & Wonders Geneva Foundation. More recently Mr. Dufour quietly discontinued the fifty-year-old Cellini line, and these pages predicted (correctly) a new dress-watch line, the 1908, after we closely scrutinized Swiss trademark registrations.
Rolex’s next acquisition could be legendary Beyer Watches & Jewellery, in Zurich, the oldest watch retailer in the world, founded in 1760 and run by René Beyer, eighth generation Beyer. Like Jörg Bucherer, Mr. Beyer has a succession challenge and could sell to Rolex.
Industry insiders also say Patek Philippe could sell itself to Rolex after the elder Stern passes away. Philippe Stern will be 85 in November. Thierry Stern, his son, has denied rumors Patek is currently for sale. But there is no rush for Mr. Dufour to make a move, as the Crown first has to clear regulatory hurdles for its Bucherer acquisition.
Rolex has estimated annual sales of more than 9.3 billion Swiss francs, according to the Morgan Stanley-LuxeConsult annual survey. Adding Bucherer’s estimated 2.2 billion Swiss francs in annual revenue would creates a luxury group with combined annual revenues approximating 11.5 billion. That squarely pits Mr. Dufour against the Rupert family at Richemont and the Hayeks of the Swatch Group and potentially puts the Rolex-Bucherer group in the No. 2 position in global ranking, but still behind the publicly traded Richemont, the watch-group industry leader. Since Rolex is a privately held company, it's always challenging trying to measure or pigeonhole them in any way.
To compare, LVMH, the world's leading luxury goods group, recorded annual revenue of 79.2 billion euros last year. Rolex could acquire Bucherer, Patek and Beyer and still not touch LVMH in terms of luxury group ranking.
What we know for sure is Rolex's CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour, an ambitious Jean-Claude Biver's protégé who was made King of the Crown at age 45, has a long career ahead of him. He also has a track record of making bold, unprecedented moves in the industry and thinks outside Rolex's traditional box. He is easily the most interesting Rolex CEO since Hans Wilsdorf.
Danny Crivello
danny@rolexmagazine.com
