A subsidiary of Swiss watchmaker Rolex has purchased a new building in the High Street area of Geneva, which currently houses a large boutique store of its competitor Omega Omega.

According to a document from the Geneva Land Registry, the real estate investment company Marconi Investment purchased the building located on Rue du Rhone for 120 million Swiss francs (approximately 966 million yuan). The local media in Geneva reported that the largest boutique in the building is another well-known Swiss watch brand, Omega.

Rue du Rhone is a prestigious street in Geneva, located near Lake Geneva and home to top luxury brands. Rolex, Patek Philippe Salon, Chanel Boutique, Cartier, Van Cleef&Arpels, Bodyguard, and other luxury brand boutiques are all located here. This is also one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Geneva.

As the birthplace of the high-end watchmaking industry, there are also specialty stores of various Swiss watchmaking brands located near Rh ô ne Street in Geneva. In addition to Rolex and Omega, high-end watchmaking brands such as Richard MILLE, Breguet, Blancpain, and Panerai all have stores in the neighborhood. Whenever night falls, this street along Lake Geneva lights up brightly, and the watch brand lights hanging on the top of each building on the street are exceptionally eye-catching.

Opening a shop in the Rh ô ne block will bring you the wealthiest customers from all over the world who fly to Geneva. This street has therefore become a focus of investment for watchmakers, with brands vying to enter and open stores, while more financially affluent brands may own properties here.

Omega's flagship store along the river located on Geneva Street. Image source: Google Map screenshot

The Geneva Forum analyzed that Rolex's purchase of this building through its subsidiary means that Omega will need to pay a large monthly rent to the former. Under certain conditions, Rolex can more easily terminate existing leases. Local media believe that competition between these two brands will intensify as a result.

Rolex and Omega are the top and third largest revenue generating brands in the Swiss watchmaking industry, respectively. According to Morgan Stanley's statistics, Rolex's sales are expected to be 9.3 billion Swiss francs (approximately RMB 74.9 billion) in 2022, while Omega's sales are expected to be 2.5 billion Swiss francs (approximately RMB 201.34 billion). These two brands are not only the two most well-known watch brands in Switzerland, but they also control many properties in Geneva and even Europe.

The end of retail or real estate. Bloomberg News pointed out in its report that the Wilsdorf family fund behind Rolex is actually one of the "big landlords" of the real estate industry in Geneva.