Rolex gets more expensive in UK and US with latest price hikes

London: Rolex raised prices in the US and UK by an average of about 2.5 per cent, the latest increases for the top Swiss watch brand, according to analysts at Barclays.

The price of the most popular Rolex models rose between 1 per cent and slightly more than 3 per cent in both the UK and the US in the start of this year, according to Barclays, which tracks data in both markets. Rolex prices climbed by an average of about 2.6 per cent in the UK and 2.2 per cent in the US, the analysts said.

Rolex often boosts prices once a year, typically in January, but moved to raise the cost of models including the Submariner and Daytona for a second time in the UK and Europe in September and November in response to currency fluctuations and the strong US dollar.

The latest increase shows the Swiss watchmaking giant believes it can lift prices to protect its margins amid rising inflation without hurting demand. Barclays said the price hike will benefit retailers including Watches of Switzerland Group Plc, the biggest Rolex dealer in the UK, which gets about half its revenue from the brand.

A spokesperson for Rolex in Geneva didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Investors are well-accustomed to price rises being a key feature of this attractive industry, but it is encouraging to see this continue given that we believe it will have no discernible impact on volumes,” Barclays analysts Richard Taylor and Pallav Mittal said in a note to clients.