Rolex Prices Could Go Up Almost 40% After Latest Government Move

The price of Swiss watches might be about to skyrocket with brands like Rolex, Omega, and others set to react to the White House’s executive order imposing a 39% ad valorem tariff on all imports from Switzerland. The order is set to go into effect August 7, following the passing of a hard deadline for a bilateral trade deal between the United States and the Land of Milk and Honey.

The latest escalation builds on a broader tariff overhaul Trump began in April, when he announced a baseline 10% global rate and threatened a 31% levy on Switzerland if talks faltered. The announcement of the 39% tariff greatly exceeds the 15% tariffs granted to partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea, which struck preliminary agreements before the August cutoff.

The administration is pointing to a $38.5 billion U.S. goods-trade deficit as justification for the 39% tariff on Swiss imports. All this is happening while America remains one of the Swiss watch industry’s few global bright spots. According to Swatch–which owns brands like Omega, Blancpain, Tissot, Harry Wintston, and others–sales in America rose by “double digits” in the first half of 2025. Richemont has seen sales of its specialty watch brands, like Cartier, Montblanc, Jaeger‑LeCoultre, and IWC Schaffhausen, increase by more than 10% in the Americas for three consecutive quarters.

Rolex, meanwhile, already increased its U.S. watch prices twice in 2025. First, the Swiss brand rolled out increases in January of around 1% for most steel models, while most two-tone models went up by about 5%, and full gold styles saw the biggest increases. On May 1st, Rolex again increased prices, this time by approximately 3% pretty much across the board.

While the new Swiss tariff isn’t set to go into effect until August 7, Swiss brands are already debating between swallowing the extra cost or passing it directly onto American consumers. Industry analysts are predicting a 12 to 14% increase in retail prices if brands pass the full cost on to consumers.

Switzerland isn’t alone in seeing its tariff rise. Canada’s has grown from 25% to 35% percent in a separate order aimed at drug-enforcement cooperation failures that went into effect on August 1st, while nations ranging from Mexico (25%) to Brazil (50%) now face elevated barriers across. In total, President Trump announced new tariffs on goods from more than 90 countries after his August 1st deadline to strike trade deals passed.