These are the Morgan Stanley Top 20 Swiss Watch Rankings for the past five years: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021.
There’s currently no precise way to objectively determine the actual rankings, so it has to be estimated based on incomplete datasets. Case in point, some Swiss CEOs, that don’t agree with the Morgan Stanley rankings, will state that the rankings are incorrect, and they may be right. But the public very clearly wants to know, so Morgan Stanley continues to create this valuable report, precise or not.
We defer to the deeply researched estimates created by Morgan Stanley Research and LuxeConsult, as the most accurate way to determine the top Swiss watch brands. Even so, we’ve decided to rank the top five Swiss watch companies, based on our own understanding of the watch industry. What people are wearing, what people are buying, what people are talking about, what has the best value retention, what brands are the most reliable, and so forth.
1. Rolex
Rolex owns the lion share of Swiss watch market with 30%+ of Swiss watch market share by value in (wholesale) and out (retail). They reportedly produce upwards of 1.2 million watches annually, with very high average sale prices per unit, and Rolex watches see appreciation levels on a year to year basis, based on a huge volume of transactions, that are second to none. Rolex is indisputably the #1 leading Swiss watchmaker, by practically every conceivable measure: revenue (top line), profit margin (bottom line), objectively, subjectively, based on brand attention, brand awareness, retention values, consumer name recognition, celebrity name recognition, communication about the brand, what you see on people’s wrist in the wild, and what you see at collector events.
2. Omega
The legendary Speedmaster, and to a lesser extent Seamaster, and Omega’s association with the Olympics, NASA, the James Bond franchise, and its accelerated mono-brand retail expansion continue to keep Omega near the top. Morgan Stanley does have Cartier Watches (not including Cartier jewelry/accessories), above Omega based on revenue, but those are estimates, and are not backed by objective data (Omega does not publicly disclose Omega watch sales) that can definitively say whether Cartier or Omega is #2. For that reason, and the fact that so many people own Omegas, as well as the ever popular Omega Speedmaster-derived MoonSwatch (part of Swatch), our argument is that when you consider both Omega and MoonSwatch sales, and knwoing that Omega is a pure watch brand, not a jewelry brand that also makes watches, Omega sits at #2 for us.
3. Cartier
Cartier is a massive brand, and the cash cow of the Richemont Group. With it’s jewelry and watches combined, it would likely sit at the very top of this list. However, as far as watch sales, we rank them #3 on our list, which is in contrast to the most recent Morgan Stanley Top 20 Swiss Watch Rankings, that has them at #2. They’re a mega jewelry brand, that’s also doing significant watch business, however, Omega is a pure watch brand. And being that we don’t definitely know what Omega, or Cartier watch sales are, there’s a good chance that objectively, Omega is in fact #2. Based on this incomplete set of data, we place Cartier at #3.
4. Patek Philippe
Patek Philippe is often considered the best luxury watchmaker in the world, and while according to Morgan Stanley’s latest report, Audemars Piguet sits above Patek Philippe. However, this is again based on an inexact dataset, and the fact that Patek Philippe models trade for incredible resale amounts on the secondary and auction markets, continuously besting Audemars Piguet. Not to mention, Patek Philippe watches are arguably made to a higher standard, with less mechanical issues, we firmly place Patek Philippe above Audemars Piguet, at #4.
5. Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet makes the Royal Oak. This is its primary model. And they’ve built an incredible business on that. However, in recent years, the hype that blew them up, has subsided, and even though they’re gorgeous watches, we consistently hear about mechanical issues. Plus, we’ve spoken with Audemars Piguet HQ in recent years and they do much less hand finishing, particularly with regard to beveling, than brands like Patek Philippe, which still uses significant hand finishing of the movement components. The final element, resale prices, are an area where Patek Philippe reigns supreme and even if you showed us a balance sheet where Audemars Piguet made slightly more than Patek Philippe, we’d still place Audemars Piguet below Patek Philippe at #5. The Royal Oak is a phenomenal model, but the company has seemingly rest on its laurels, particularly by making movements with inferior finishing and quality control compared to Patek Philippe, and the long-term investment of a Patek Philippe is still superior to Audemars Piguet. Even if the argument is made that the Royal Oak is a better looking design the Nautilus, the company making each design, and backing each final product’s quality still matters more, and the reslae markets show this. For that reason, Audemars Piguet is #5 in our subjective-objective analysis.
Final Thoughts
The Swiss watch industry remains a vibrant landscape that’s both dynamic on one hand, and static on the other. A blend of the past and present. With Rolex, Omega, Cartier, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet leading the way in 2025. There are also many other great Swiss companies, and increasing competition from other countries as well, however, these are our Top 5 Swiss Watch Company Rankings for 2025.
