Rolex shuts down Carl F. Bucherer

The watch brand Carl F. Bucherer was a hobby of the late Bucherer patron Jörg Bucherer. An expensive hobby. Rolex is now putting an end to it.

Better an end with horror than a horror without end. That may have been the guiding principle behind Rolex boss Jean-Frédéric Dufour's decision to discontinue the Carl F. Bucherer watch brand.

Yesterday morning, employees were informed of the end; the shutters on the remaining boutiques will soon be lowered, and the sales points in Bucherer stores will soon be cleared for other brands.

Neither Rolex nor Bucherer wanted to comment on the end of CFB. Rolex referred to Bucherer, while Bucherer dismissed the information from "BILANZ Watches" as mere "rumors."

Million-dollar grave

According to information from "BILANZ Watches", the Carl F. Bucherer brand has never managed to make a profit despite some impressive sales. Overall, Bucherer is likely to have lost around 250 million francs with CFB. In good years, CFB generated sales of between 80 and 100 million francs. There were even years, it is said, in which the brand was the second strongest brand within the Bucherer business behind Rolex. But even in these years, CFB made losses. There is said to have been not a single year with black figures.

So it's no wonder that Dufour CFB is pulling the plug. Rolex may be owned by a charity, but it's not a charity; it's a company, an extremely successful company. There's no need for disruptive factors like CFB. Especially since, from Rolex's point of view, the brand is just bycatch from the Bucherer takeover. The world's strongest watch brand doesn't need another sister brand - alongside Tudor. And certainly not one that doesn't work.

Patron Bucherer was both a life insurance company and a bank

The only question is why Bucherer has not made the cut that Rolex is now making on its own. The reason is simple: Carl F. Bucherer was the baby of boss Jörg Bucherer.

As long as he was in charge at Bucherer, no one dared to criticize or even question his expensive hobby. Jörg Bucherer was the brand's life insurance and bank, it is said. Only his death after the takeover of Rolex cleared the way for a sober analysis of the brand's uncertain future. The strict look by Rolex's finance department at the brand's loss statements then sealed the end.

It is said that Rolex will try to accommodate some of the affected employees - around a hundred - within the group. The people in the CFP production in Lengnau near Biel will probably be offered jobs in the new Rolex factory in Bulle. This will probably involve around seventy people.

"I would have expected more from the brand"

The failure of Carl F. Bucherer is surprising because, as part of the Bucherer watch trading group, the brand has always had privileged access to Bucherer's extensive distribution network in Europe and the USA, as well as being able to use online sales channels. A profound industry expert, who did not want to be named, says: "I would have expected more from the brand."

The failure is also surprising because in the past Bucherer is said to have often sold the brand as a package with the highly sought-after Rolex models. In other words: Bucherer only offered a Daytona if a CFB was also purchased at the same time. The result of this: to this day, used CFB models are offered on the relevant online marketplaces at discounts of up to 90 percent.

Most recently, Carl F. Bucherer was present in around 250 stores, 50 of which are operated by Bucherer or its US subsidiary Tourneau.

For more information, please visit handelszeitung.ch