Rolex produced 1.24 million watches in 2023 with sales of 10.1 billion Swiss francs or around US$11.5 billion, according to a Bloomberg report. Although the figures are impressive, production is expected to increase significantly with the new manufacturing facility in Bulle. Plans to add a factory to this production facility were first announced in 2022, but the luxury watch brand has only given an official response.
According to the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, in Rolex’s official statement released on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, it was revealed that the factory will be located in Bulle, a small area in the Gruyère district, located in the canton of Freiburg. Also revealed was the first official photographic rendering of the new complex. The news came just three days before the building permit was officially filed and published in the Feuille officielle du canton de Fribourg.Rolex is one of the most integrated watch manufacturers in Switzerland, and most of its components are manufactured internally.
The Rolex Group employs around 14,000 people worldwide, with around 9,000 of them working in Switzerland. Its headquarters are located in Acacias in Geneva, where the watches are developed and assembled, while the machines are manufactured in Bienne.The watch case and bracelet are manufactured in Plan-les-Ouates, along with the dial, Cerachrom bezel and Cerachrom bezel insert. The gemology and gemstone setting expertise of this brand resides in Chêne-Bourg. The new location in Bulle will include a fifth of the luxury watch factory and will employ around 2000 workers. Strategies to go green
The Rolex production facility in Bulle will consist of four production buildings connected by a central building. Rolex plans to achieve the highest certification of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and will be the first for an industrial building in Switzerland.The development plan is also part of the sustainability strategy. Through this plant Rolex wants to reduce the energy consumption of buildings by 10 percent compared to conventional plant designs.The planned 100,000 square meter facility in Bulle is expected to cost more than one billion Swiss francs. Meanwhile, to accelerate manufacturing capacity, Rolex has built three temporary factories in Romont and Villaz-Saint-Pierre. The temporary factory will only be able to accommodate between 250 and 300 Rolex employees, all of whom will be relocated to the Bulle site once the factory opens in 2029.