Step inside Watches of Switzerland Group’s flagship Rolex boutique on London's Bond Street

Rolex has found a vast new home on London’s Old Bond Street, with Watches of Switzerland Group’s flagship Rolex boutique, one of the largest in Europe, spanning four floors and totalling 1,1100 square metres.

All of the Rolex collection is here, from the GMT Master II and Cosmograph Daytona to the Submariner. Visitors will also be able to discover and purchase historical pieces, with a dedicated floor showcasing key watches from the last 120 years, while elsewhere, artisans work on maintaining clients’ watches in a Rolex Authorised Service Centre.

Throughout, there is space to pause, sit, perhaps sip on the signature "1905" cocktail created exclusively for the store. Hospitality is the focus in the comfortable, elegantly defined space, with a highly trained team keen to address every desire. It’s a warmth which plays out against classic Rolex touches, with an elegantly considered design interweaving a distinctive green through a signature green marble wall greeting guests at the reception. In the main atrium, visible from every floor, there hangs an art installation of gold bezels and green glass.

For Brian Duffy, CEO of The Watches of Switzerland Group, the store is the culmination of a long and fruitful partnership with Rolex. ‘The Watches of Switzerland Group have been retailing Rolex uninterrupted since 1919, when we first retailed Rolex in Newcastle,’ he says. ‘We also opened the first ever Rolex boutique in Bond Street in 1978, and we've managed the boutique on Rolex ever since. We’ve been looking for years for a location on Bond Street to expand and elevate the presence of the world's best brand on the world's best luxury street. We were delighted to secure this amazing location around two years ago, and then begins the uniquely meticulous, creative design by the Rolex architects, very talented people.’

The design is instantly evocative for Nick Johhnson of Johnson Pinney Architects. ‘If we were to remove any of the signage, I think you would all know and visually recognize this as a Rolex store. The reason for that is that we've worked with them on the palette, which you'll recognise, but actually it's the execution and the use of the materials here, which has been done in a way that you will not see anywhere else, which is one of the things that makes it very special for us and very unique. The quality of the materials is absolutely exceptional. I've counted no less than seven different types of marble just on the floor’s entrance alone. It has been an absolute commitment. There are so many fantastic, unique designs and features of this space.’

watches-of-switzerland.co.uk