Peers Hardy becomes joint owner of Rotary

Midlands-based watch distributor and manufacturer Peers Hardy has announced that it is now the joint owner of the Rotary. 

Peers Hardy signed an agreement with Hong Kong-based Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group in February of last year to take over all design, manufacturing, and global distribution. Now the two companies have agreed terms to become joint owners of the famous watch brand.

“Following the very successful relaunch of Rotary watches at the end of last year, we wanted to futureproof control of our famous brand as we step up numerous marketing initiatives and regrow our market share to levels not seen for many years,” said Nick Baker, Peers Hardy’s managing director. 

“We have recently signed an exciting collaboration with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and our initial range of British Army, Royal Navy, and RAF automatic, quartz, and smart watches will launch later this year. Further collaborations with iconic British brands will follow. In addition, the first ever range of Rotary jewellery will launch in time for Christmas this year,” Baker continued.

The story of Rotary has been a bittersweet one, with years of triumph followed more recently by stark decline. As the below chart shows, as recently as 2013 the brand recorded turnover of £20 million in the UK. By 2020, sales had shrunk to a little over £5 million. 

Peers Hardy has already begun the turnaround process, and will be confident that the historic brand equity in Rotary will set it up for years of success.

“Having grown Rotary sales in 2025, we anticipate further strong growth in 2026 now that we have joint ownership of the brand. This will support Peers Hardy’s overall growth across our other brands and product categories as we seek to diversify and grow despite the current difficult economic climate”