Rolex raises UK watch prices as gold prices hit new highs

Rolex SA increased the price of its precious metal watches by 4% after gold prices hit record levels in the UK.

A white gold Rolex Daytona chronograph rose 4% to £38,700 ($49,312), up from £37,200 on June 1. site Sourced from a Swiss watch manufacturer in the United Kingdom Bloomberg News.

The yellow gold GMT Master II has risen from £34,000 to £35,400.

The country-specific prices of watches manufactured by Geneva-based Rolex are considered an indicator of a country’s economic strength. The world’s most important luxury watch brand produces more than 1 million watches a year, with sales exceeding 10 billion Swiss francs ($11.08 billion).

Gold prices have risen 14% this year, hitting an all-time high of $2,450 an ounce in May on hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates. Last month, the British pound hit its highest value against the euro since August 2022.

A Rolex spokesman in Geneva declined to comment on the price change.

Rolex usually increases the price of its watches once a year, in January. At the time, it raised UK prices by 4% for some models, including some steel watches, but kept US prices unchanged.

Large currency changes in the UK in January and September led to Rolex raising prices twice in 2022, when the pound hit its lowest level against the dollar in decades. Rolex also raised prices twice in European countries this year.

Copyright FashionNetwork.com with Bloomberg