How Rolex Flipped Watches & Wonders Upside Down in 2025 (and Why It Was Probably the Right Move)

Watches and Wonders Geneva is the biggest watch trade show of the year. It’s where many of the industry’s most influential brands unveil their new releases—sometimes their entire year’s lineup. For Rolex, that debut has always been a tightly controlled moment, built on suspense.

That suspense was nowhere to be found this year. And for the record, I think that’s a good thing.

Eight hours before the fair began, Rolex published its full slate of releases online. Product pages updated. Press room unlocked. And most notably, a handful of pre-produced hands-on videos and write-ups dropped immediately, from outlets like Teddy Baldassarre and SJX Watches, who received early access. The Land-Dweller, Rolex’s most anticipated release, was already out in the world before any of us walked into the building.

Breaking Rolex’s Release Routine

Rolex Watches & Wonders Booth Pre-Launch (2024)

This is a sharp break from Rolex tradition. Until now, they’ve been one of the few brands to avoid embargoed media access entirely. No early specs, no preview images, no press kits. Attendees at the show would line up outside the Rolex booth, watching the display windows with the rest of the world. The blinds would lift, the novelties would be revealed, and that was it—the coverage scramble would begin.

I even wrote about that anticipation before the show this year:

“There’s a special kind of suspense in the air before Rolex opens the blinds on the display windows. No one knows what’s coming. And in those few quiet minutes before the chaos begins, everyone is in the same boat, waiting.”

Rolex Watches and Wonders Booth (2024)

That experience didn’t exist this year. And for the first time, Rolex shaped the early conversation by design—selecting who would get access and what would land when.

What Changed and Why It Worked

I found out about the early release via a text: “Well, they’re all on the Rolex website…” I was in bed, getting ready to sleep before day one. I stayed up as long as I could (or as long as the Advil PM I took 30 minutes earlier allowed me to) to write about the new watches, but this year, speed didn’t matter quite as much. A few outlets had a head start, and their hands-on coverage was already up the moment the embargo lifted.

And honestly, that’s better for everyone.

There’s also a broader trend here. Over the past few years, press coverage from the floor—photos, videos, write-ups—has gotten faster and sharper. The gap between insider access and public consumption has narrowed. Rolex definitely sees that. Maybe they realized that if you don’t give trusted creators the tools early, the story gets told anyway—just through fast, day-of coverage. And while that content can be good (and often is), it’s still reactive, not coordinated.

A Digital Launch for a Digital Audience

It also didn’t feel like a coincidence that this shift happened alongside the debut of the Land-Dweller—a watch Rolex described as “a new chapter,” designed “for those shaping the future.” That may be just marketing language, but the strategy matches the sentiment.

If this watch is meant to reach a younger, more digitally native generation of Rolex buyers, at least partially, then it makes sense to lean into a digital-first rollout. The audience is already watching. The platforms are already loaded. The creators chosen for early access already know how to present a release in a way that lands with modern watch buyers.

By coordinating the timing and controlling the way the message was delivered, Rolex engineered this release—they didn’t just put it out.

What We Lost (and Why It’s Okay)

Yes, something was lost in the shift. For those of us at the fair, the window reveal moment has always been special. It’s a rare kind of shared suspense—one of the few times each year where press, retailers, and collectors are genuinely seeing something for the first time, together.

But it’s a small group. A tiny fraction of the people who care about Rolex get to experience that moment in person. What Rolex gave up in magic for the few, they more than made up for in clarity, accessibility, and reach for the many.

This is also where the industry has been heading for a while. Most other brands at the fair already provide pre-show press kits and embargoed access. And it’s not just watches—other industries have worked this way for years. Think about iPhone launches, where hands-on videos drop the second the keynote ends. Rolex was one of the last holdouts. 

Final Thoughts

This isn’t Rolex losing control of the narrative. It’s Rolex choosing to shape it, more precisely than ever.

Giving early access to a few creators isn’t just smart marketing. It’s a way to make sure the product is seen by the right audiences, with enough time and quality to do it justice. As much as I missed the reveal moment this year, this was the right move. It made the Land-Dweller launch more engaging, more informed, and more fun to follow—whether you were in Geneva or watching from your phone.

Rolex flipped the Watches and Wonders playbook this year. And they didn’t do it (just) to stir the pot. They did it because it’s a better way to launch watches in 2025. And they’re probably not going back.