Independent brands dominate Swiss watch rankings as Omega falls out of top 4

The latest Morgan Stanley x LuxeConsult report reveals Omega slipping to fifth place, as the rise and rise of Rolex continues. 

The contrasting fortunes of the two horological heavy hitters is stark. As recently as 2017, Rolex’s sales stood at an estimated CHF 3.9 billion compared to Omega’s CHF 2.23 billion. By 2025, Rolex’s estimated turnover had soared to CHF 11 billion, Omega’s sales have been flat.

Some tactical decisions explain some of this—Omega’s and Swatch Group’s ‘all in’ approach to China, for instance (which may yet prove handy if China recovers from its slump of the last few years)—but a lot of it is down to the conservative brilliance of The Crown.

The report reinforces what many others have said, which is that the industry is experiencing strong polarisation, with the top four brands now accounting for over 50% of the total market share.

There is a clear trend of privately owned brands enjoying their time in the sun versus their ‘big group’ rivals. Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe comprise three of the top four slots in the report’s rankings. 

Cartier is a notable exception at number two in the list, but this is at least in part because of the marketing power that it enjoys because of its preeminence on the jewellery side.

Boutique independents like F.P. Journe and H. Moser & Cie continue to punch above their weight, while UK brand Christopher Ward has made a notable entry into the top 50.

As Swiss watch export data has shown, the industry is not currently living through boom times, and the ‘winners’ at the top seem to be extending their lead over a lot of the pretenders to the throne. 

Groups like Swatch Group, LVMH, and Richemont have been caught up in this difficult middle ground, which may go some way to explaining the results from this report, as well as recent moves (and rumours of moves) to offload underperforming brands by those larger multi-brand conglomerates.