Rolex and Patek Philippe to Delay New Product Releases in 2020

The two most powerful brands in the watch industry have announced they won't release new products this year Rolex and Patek Philippe have both confirmed to Robb Report that they are delaying their 2020 releases in light of the global Covid-19 pandemic "Following the cancellation of Baselworld 2020 in March due to Covid-19, we had announced that we would unveil our new products at the end of April.

Given the global impact of the virus, we have decided to postpone the announcement to a later date," Rolex announced in an official statement "We have not currently identified new timing for our releases, but we will get back to you in due course with further information Our priority at this time is to stand by the people with whom we work and to bring help and support in the best way possible" Patek Philippe has not yet issued a formal announcement.

As many brands debated over whether or not to participate in Baselworld 2020, Rolex and Patek Philippe were rumored to have jointly made a decision not to pull out of the watch fair If both brands decide to wait and release new product until Baselworld 2021, it will keep the floundering show in business, but should they instead release the product in a new format, away from the trade show schedule, it could be the nail in the coffin for the watchmaking conference, which had been running for over a century before this year's postponement Of course, while there is no official word that the two brands have made the decision to delay product for this year together, it seems likely that the decision made by each brand was not made without consideration of the other and it remains to be seen, in what format, they will handle releasing new timepieces in the future. Source