Rolex Calling Time on Carl F. Bucherer Watch Brand, Report Says

Rolex is shutting down 136-year-old watch brand Carl F. Bucherer (CFB), which it has owned since its 2023 purchase of parent company Bucherer, according to a report in Swiss business publication Bilanz.

“[Friday] morning, employees were informed of the end,” the newspaper said. “Shutters on the remaining boutiques will soon be lowered, and the sales points in Bucherer stores will soon be cleared for other brands.”

Around 100 employees are likely to be affected, though Rolex hopes to offer some of them jobs with its other brands, said Bilanz.

One jeweler who has carried Carl F. Bucherer tells JCK they were recently notified that the brand was being pulled from their store and would become a “boutique-only exclusive.” However, according to the Swiss report, the line is being shut down completely. (Rolex referred JCK’s queries to Bucherer, which declined comment. Carl F. Bucherer did not respond to a request for comment.)

Any closure does not affect the Bucherer retail chain, which owns Tourneau in the United States and is still owned by Rolex.

Rolex’s purchase of Bucherer “cleared the way for a sober analysis of the brand’s uncertain future,” reporter Marcel Speiser wrote in the Bilanz story. “The strongest watch brand in the world [Rolex] does not need another sister brand, alongside Tudor.”

He added that the Carl F. Bucherer brand “has never managed to make a profit despite some impressive sales,” but it had survived because it was the “baby” of company chairman Jörg Bucherer (who died a few months after his company was sold).

On Hodinkee, Tim Jeffreys wrote: “For the landscape of legacy Swiss watch brands, it’s the end of an era. Carl F. Bucherer is a brand we at Hodinkee have certainly enjoyed over the years.”