At the start of the ski season at the end of October, the Titlis Rotair is still undergoing maintenance. The route up from the valley station in Engelberg therefore still goes first on the old funicular, then continues with the feeder cable car to just over 3,000 meters. There, a tunnel leads from the construction site of the mountain station to the new Titlis Tower, and only the elevator takes visitors the rest of the way up.

The door opens and everyone is amazed: Through the huge glass fronts, the view falls on the ice of the snow-covered peaks. Although the sales area covers just under 200 square meters, the view from the sixth floor of the new Titlis Tower is simply spectacular. 

The structure emerged from a former microwave tower of the former PTT from the 1980s. The Basel-based architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron transformed the 56-meter steel structure with two horizontally inserted glass volumes into a new landmark of the Swiss Alps. One entire floor now belongs to the "Joseph’s Restaurant" with casual fine dining, and below it international tourists, mainly from India and China, admire the new luxury watches with a view.

In total, Titlis Bergbahnen is investing around 150 million francs in the realization of the Titlis Tower and the new mountain station.

The newly opened Titlis Tower. (Image provided)

Luxurious, but not entirely practical

Inside the Rolex boutique, American walnut, Verde Alpi marble and smoked oak meet generous glass fronts with views of glaciers and snow-covered peaks. A central natural-stone table, elegant seating areas and a dedicated bar complement the display areas for the luxury watches.

There was only one thing Rolex’s in-house interior designers had not considered. Because all visitors step close to the large windows to admire and photograph the view, the fine wooden covers of the ventilation system in the floor have already broken several times.

"We had a huge rush right after the opening, but fortunately things have calmed down a bit now," says a sales associate during a visit by finews as part of the tourism industry panel hosted by "schweizeraktien.net".

The boutique is open seven days a week and employs eight people. Rolex subsidiary Bucherer has leased the store long-term for a fixed price; how much the expansion cost remains, of course, a trade secret. One industry expert told finews he estimates "around 8 to 10 million francs". "It is hardly profitable, but it certainly helps with marketing," he added. The images on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, for example, are almost priceless.

In addition to the spectacular new opening, Bucherer has been operating a "multi-brand boutique" on the mountain for many years. This is set to get even more space in the new mountain station planned for 2029. An interesting detail: according to their CFO Marco Leu, the watch retailers pay Titlisbahnen rent based on revenue.

Lots of space and a great view in the Rolex boutique. (Image provided)

Long-standing ties 

The fact that Bucherer is investing on the Titlis in particular may also be due to personal ties. Bucherer CEO Guido Zumbühl served on the board of Bergbahnen Engelberg-Trübsee-Titlis from 2012 to February 2025.

However, the Titlis is only one part of a broader development. Rolex acquired the Swiss traditional retailer Bucherer in 2023, thereby bringing a major in-house retail organization under its control for the first time.

According to an analysis by the industry portal WatchPro, thirteen new Rolex boutiques were opened worldwide in 2026. Bucherer operates seven of them. In addition to the Titlis, such locations were opened in Munich (April), Stuttgart (May), Shanghai, Paris and Bellevue near Seattle, among others.

In October, another new boutique opened at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. At around 709 square meters, it is the largest Bucherer location in Greater China, according to the company. In early 2027, Bucherer is also set to take over operations of the four-story Rolex flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York.

This development is notable because Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour said as recently as November 2025 that the group did not intend to pursue any further expansion of Bucherer. The brand, he said, wanted to continue relying on its independent retail partners.

Rolex dominates the market despite falling unit sales

The growing importance of its own distribution network comes at a time when Rolex is further expanding its market position. According to estimates by Vontobel, the Geneva-based watchmaker generated revenue of around 10.5 billion francs in 2025. That made Rolex bigger than the next four or five watch brands combined.

At the same time, the company reduced production for the second year in a row. Analysts see this as a strategy in which controlled availability and pricing power matter more than rising unit volumes.

For Rolex, tighter control over points of sale therefore brings an economic advantage. In addition to selling new watches, the group also retains the lucrative trading margins, customer data and a growing share of the secondary-market business within its own corporate structure.