This week, a look at the growth of Tudor, Rolex’s lower-priced sister brand. As prices for Swiss watch brands keep rising and challenges from tariffs and a declining China market grow, more accessibly priced brands like Tudor are thriving.
The luxury watch industry has faced some serious headwinds in recent months. Tariffs and the declining China market has put a damper on the ability of Swiss watch brands to grow.
But despite its focus on affluence and luxury, Rolex, one of the biggest brands in the category, is having surprising success from its lower-priced brand, Tudor.
At Bezel, one of the fastest-growing secondhand watch marketplaces in the country, Tudor has seen significant growth. In Bezel’s analysis of the first six months of 2025, Tudor made up 12% of all sales on the platform, double what it was in the same period of 2023. Tudor also made up 6% of “Wants,” or watches that Bezel users have saved for future purchases. In the primary market, Tudor’s sales are well over $500 million, making up around 5% of Rolex’s overall revenue.
While 6% may not sound like much, especially compared to the 37% of Wants that are Rolexes, it does put Tudor ahead of many more expensive brands, including the titans that are Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe. Both of those brands only account for 5% of Wants on Bezel, despite costing tens of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, Tudor watches can generally be bought for as low as $3,000.
“Tudor is an incredible brand,” said Bezel founder and CEO Quaid Walker. “In many ways, Tudor is almost a lab for Rolex. They can move quicker, try new things, and explore new styles and ideas a little bit more.”
Many watch enthusiasts spotted the clear influence of the Tudor Royal, a popular model released in 2020, on the 2025 Rolex Land-Dweller, the first entirely new Rolex model released in over a decade. Tudor was founded by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf in 1926, less than 20 years after Rolex, and has remained a sister brand since then.
And despite costing only a fraction of its Rolex cousins, Tudor also benefits from prestige and the celebrity watch enthusiasts who collect its watches. David Beckham, for example, was just spotted at Wimbledon wearing a custom version of the Tudor Black Bay Chrono that he received for his 50th birthday. Other celebrities at Wimbledon also opted for lower-priced brands. Eddie Redmayne and Andrew Garfield both wore Omega watches to Wimbledon valued at around $7,000.
The appeal of more accessibly-priced luxury watch brands is growing at a time when other players have continued to drastically increase their prices. At Bob’s Watches, a major dealer of new and pre-owned watches, a July 10 report found that Rolexes have increased in price by 555% over the last 15 years. Rolex prices on Bob’s Watches are currently around 60% higher than they were in 2020.
As the threats from tariffs and inflation have put a damper on consumers’ wallets, more luxury brands are adding more lower-priced products to their catalogues.
“Tudor has often been seen as the step-child of Rolex,” said Paul Altieri, founder and CEO of Bob’s Watches. “But in the last five years, it has gained immense popularity. Rolex has put a lot of effort into developing new models, new styles and new ideas for Tudor, and prices have been really stable, especially compared to Rolex.”
Tag Heuer is another big name in the accessible Swiss luxury watch brand space. Under LVMH, Tag has been aggressively expanding into spaces normally reserved for the more expensive watch brands, such as taking the role of official sponsor of Formula 1 away from Rolex earlier this year. Tag and Tudor are comparably priced, with many watches between $3,000 and $5,000.
But Altieri said luxury marketplaces like his own are hesitant to deal in Tag Heuer watches for one reason: There are too many of them floating around.
“The problem with brands like Tag is they overproduce,” he said. “They make hundreds of thousands of watches. If they overproduce, there is more product than demand, and they don’t have the scarcity of a true luxury brand.”
Tudor, which has doubled its revenues since 2017, makes approximately 300,000 watches per year, less than half of what Tag Heuer makes, allowing it to still make waves in luxury collector spaces even though the price point is much lower.
Stat of the week
Speaking of Formula 1, new data released by the motorsport league paints an interesting picture of who’s engaging with the sport today and where its growth comes from.
In a survey Formula 1 conducted of 100,000 fans of the league around the world, 70% of American Gen-Z respondents reported engaging with Formula 1 content daily. Thirty-nine percent of the same group said they’re more likely to consider an F1 sponsor’s product over an alternative. And, most notably, women now make up three out of every four new fans. As fashion continues to flirt with big Formula 1 partnerships, it’s good to know who’s actually engaging.
Executive moves
- Brandy Richardson, formerly of Tailored Brands, is taking over as the new CFO of Saks Global. Her appointment comes at a time when Saks’s finances are under intense scrutiny, specifically the company’s ability to pay its vendors and its creditors.
- Former H&M CEO Helena Helmersson is joining the board of directors of Spanish fashion retailer Mango. Helmersson left H&M in 2024 and has since joined the board of directors for brands like Circulose and On Holding.
- The jewelry and timepiece show Couture has appointed former Neiman Marcus executive Eric Ford as brand director. Ford had previously been the buyer of fine jewelry for Neiman Marcus from 1989 until May of this year.
News to know
- Gap dropped its third curated vintage collection with vintage curator and designer Sean Wotherspoon this week. It’s part of GapVintage, the program Wotherspoon launched with Gap in February.
- In an effort to compete with Chinese brands like Shein, Zara owner Inditex is expanding its ultra-budget brand Lefties to new markets like France.
- British fast fashion brand Topshop is planning to host its first runway show in seven years in London, though the exact date hasn’t been announced yet.
Inside Glossy’s coverage
Inside Citizens of Humanity’s plan to build up its men’s business
Inside the Loro Piana scandal: Labor abuse, court oversight and the myth of sustainable luxury
How Ralph Lauren is benefitting from Wimbledon’s growing fashion influence
