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WuW Mythbusters: One Year To Make A Rolex?

3,813 views · Published 23 February 2017 · 3:42 · Indexed 12 November 2026

Channel: The 1916 Company · 2017 · Autos & Vehicles

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Tim Mosso and Mike Michaels discuss rumors and mythology of the luxury watch world. Rolex claims that it takes "one year to make a Rolex watch." Is this true? Is it even possible when high horology brands construct vastly more complex grand complications by hand in less time? Tim concludes that Rolex may be able to claim one year from the time ore is mined to the time the watch goes to market, but actual fabrication and assembly steps do not amount to a full year of working hours. Automated finishing, fabrication, quality control, and robotic delivery of inventoried components to work benches mean that Rolex likely invests less than a year of man-hours to build a single watch. A skilled watchmaker can assemble a Rolex from parts in mere hours, and those parts of fabrication not handled by watchmakers or sub-assembly artisans in Rolex Geneva and Biel are addressed by machines. Rolex builds between 800,000 and 1,000,000 watches per year. If Rolex has a rationale to justify its claim of one year to fabricate a single watch, the company has not disclosed any such explanation. Until that time, we're rating this myth busted: FALSE.

Video and content by Tim Mosso and Pheline Jerome.

WuW Mythbusters: One Year To Make A Rolex?

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