Rolex and Omega’s fight for prime real estate: the Swiss watchmaker just bought a building that houses an Omega store on Geneva’s poshest shopping street

Oct 31 , 2023

A Rolex SA subsidiary paid US$133 million for a building on Rue du Rhone in Geneva, Switzerland, which houses its rival The Swatch Group’s Omega. Photo: Omega

Rue du Rhone in Geneva is the latest battlefield between Rolex SA and Swatch Group AG: the former just bought a building that houses the latter’s top performing brand Omega for US$133 million

Both Swiss watchmakers are also fighting for prime real estate elsewhere – last month, Swatch paid US$99.7 million for a building on London’s New Bond Street to house its jewellery brand Harry Winston

A Rolex SA subsidiary bought a building, which houses its rival Omega, on Geneva’s priciest shopping street in the latest battle between top Swiss watch brands for prime real estate.

Marconi Investment SA paid 120 million Swiss francs (US$133 million) for the building on Rue du Rhone, according to a filing with Geneva’s land registry.

Rolex has bought a building in Geneva that houses its rival, Omega. Photo: Omega

The property’s tenants include the biggest boutique for Swatch Group AG’s top brand Omega in the Swiss city, according to local newspaper Tribune de Genève, which reported the news earlier. The property deal underscores the intense competition between brands both for customers and the best located stores.

Omega will now be writing a sizeable rent check to its biggest competitor each month and Rolex will have a say in how the building is maintained and operates. Under certain conditions, a new owner can more easily terminate an existing lease, the Tribune de Genève reported.

Spokespeople for Rolex and Swatch Group declined to comment.

Rolex is the biggest watch brand in Switzerland. Photo: Rolex

Rolex is the biggest Swiss brand with sales of 9.3 billion Swiss francs, according to Morgan Stanley estimates. Omega is the third largest with sales of about 2.5 billion francs. Geneva-based Richemont’s Cartier is the second biggest watch brand.

Rolex, which is controlled by a foundation named for its founder Hans Wilsdorf, is a major owner of property in its home city of Geneva.