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Can you Visit the Rolex Factory in Switzerland?

Rolex is one of the most prestigious and well-known luxury watch brands in the world. But they are also one of the most secretive. Rolex does things differently from its competitors. Rolex calls it “the Rolex way”. This means satisfying with nothing but perfection and exceptional quality.

There is a lot of mystique that surrounds the Rolex brand. As Rolex is very secretive about its new models, what it thinks, what it plans to do, and how it does things, it’s also a very intriguing brand that a lot of people are curious about.

If you’re in Switzerland – or planning a visit there, you may therefore wonder if you can visit the Rolex factory in Switzerland. A factory tour is one of the best ways to get more insight into a company, its production process, and how it works to create such popular products. Many Swiss watch brands offer curious enthusiasts and customers factory tours. This includes brands such as Girard-Perregaux, Parmigiani, IWC, Zenith, Frederique Constant, and many more. But the answer is that Rolex does not offer any factory tours to the public.

Some of the Swiss watch brands that don’t offer factory tours have museums that you can visit to discover more about the brands. Whilst museums won’t show you the production and the work that goes into making their timepieces, they will give you an in-depth look at the brand. At the various museums in Switzerland, you’ll be able to discover lots of interesting timepieces and learn more about the history of the brand. Rolex does not have a public museum, either, as many other brands do. In 2019, OMEGA opened a brand new Museum at “La Cité du Temps” which is just spectacular. Patek Philippe also has a museum that is open to the public, and so do many other brands.

Can you visit the Rolex factory?

As 024 watch world stated:

“It’s a lot easier to obtain a visa for North Korea than to book a fully organized trip to the head office and production facilities of Rolex. Even more, you can’t actually organize this trip yourself; only when it pleases Rolex will the gates be opened and outsiders admitted.”

“ The big deal is that these are Rolex factories and that very few other colleagues have ever been admitted to the always tightly closed “Oyster”. In 2014 Rolex is starting to open up a little bit more and the Facebook page it recently started is proof of this, but physical visits remain an extremely rare and exclusive affair.”

Rolex does not only have 1 factory but rather four of them. Different parts of the production process take place in different factories. One factory is dedicated to dial-making, and Les Acacias is dedicated to developing, marketing, research, communications, and some production. In the Plan-Les-Ouates factory, we find the central laboratory, cases, bracelets, and gold foundry. In Bienne, Rolex manufactures the Rolex movements.

The four Rolex factories are:

Les Acacias: situated across the Arve River from Geneva.
Plan-Les-Ouates: The Central Laboratory, Case Making, A Gold Foundry
Chêne-Bourg: located to the northeast of Plan-Les-Ouates
Bienne: Where Rolex Movements Are Made
Rolex Les Acacias: the most iconic facility

The bottom line is that Rolex does not offer any factory tours for the public. And considering the fact that Rolex is very secretive, it doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. Rolex has a large collection of private watches, but they do not have a public museum, either. On some rare occasions, Rolex welcomes journalists for a tour of the factory, but these are few and far between. Not just any journalist can request a factory tour and be welcomed there.

2 thoughts on “ Can you Visit the Rolex Factory in Switzerland? ”

I have a Rolex watch but want to buy other one

Good luck with that. Rolex’s current marketing strategy will likely limit sales to only the super wealthy or influencers (with a million followers). I have three myself (Two-tone Yacht Master, SS GMT, and White Explorer II) and have been on a waiting list for 2 years for the Two-tone GMT. My local AD said that I just need to keep coming in and building my relationship (whitch I now understand to mean spend more money). I finally got tired of the wait and went to Vegas. The Rolex Boutique was a bit more honest with me. They flat out said that they only get a few of the TT GMTs a year, and only sell those to high rollers that buy multiple watches at a time, or have a collecation (and i cant make this up) “of more that 200 Rolexs” (this was the Rolex boutique in the Venetian). Second hand Rolis are off the charts now. I’m probably going to sell mine and go full on Breitling. May not have the recognition of Rolex, but 10 years from now any rolex you see on “rank and file” will be fake. In fact funny thing, the first Batman that i saw (years after it’s release) was at a resort on Roatan Island – I complemented the owner and he admitted it was fake.

My advice, if you want a Rolex at all, buy on the second hand market (with papers and an appraisal) then stick it in your safe. When Rolex goes out of business it will multiply in value.

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The four sites

Geography of Excellence

Rolex creates, manufactures, assembles and tests all its watches exclusively in Switzerland.

Rolex creates, manufactures, assembles and tests all its watches exclusively in Switzerland, thanks to the know-how and commitment of more than 9,000 employees at the brand’s four sites, all at the cutting edge of technological progress.

From Acacias, its world headquarters in Geneva, where the watches are developed and assembled, to Bienne, where the movements are manufactured; from Plan-les-Ouates where the watch cases and bracelets are produced, to Chêne-Bourg where the dials, Cerachrom bezels and Cerachrom bezel inserts in ceramic are crafted and where the brand’s gemmology and gem-setting expertise is located, sophisticated high-technology equipment is a reflection of Rolex’s distinction. A fifth site is under construction in Bulle in the canton of Fribourg.

By integrating the entirety of its production on four sites, Rolex has made a strategic, bold and visionary choice. It thus has an unparalleled production facility linking high value-added skills with state-of-the-art technologies. Rolex can, independently, express its creativity and innovative spirit according to its own standards of excellence. Each Rolex watch is created according to superlative production criteria. Each element is developed, produced and checked with continuous attention to even the smallest of details.

1/4 - The four sites

Rolex world headquarters, located in the Acacias district of Geneva, brings together the Executive Board as well as all administrative, commercial, communications, sponsorship and philanthropic activities, along with exports and worldwide after-sales service. Extended in 2022, the Acacias site also houses the design, research and development activities that are crucial to the genesis of new Rolex watches.

Further, the site has two imposing production units, where the final assembly of the watch components made at other sites is carried out. Finished watches also undergo a series of tests at this site before receiving the Superlative Chronometer certification, which guarantees unparalleled performance in terms of precision, power reserve, waterproofness and self-winding.

The cycle that brings the watch to life begins in Acacias.

Thanks to the degree of integration and industrial independence it has acquired, Rolex can form highly autonomous, multidisciplinary teams and provide them with optimal working conditions to design every facet of a wristwatch from the very start of a project.

This structure brings together everyone involved in the design and development phase in one location while integrating all of the industrialization aspects and taking into account feedback from after-sales service.

2/4 - The four sites

Plan-les-Ouates

The Plan-les-Ouates Rolex site, located in the canton of Geneva and inaugurated in 2005, brings together all the development and production activities for watch cases and bracelets, from casting gold alloys, to forming and machining raw materials and manually finishing completed parts.

It is composed of six wings, 65 metres long, 30 metres wide and 30 metres high, linked by a central circulation corridor. Through its activities and the considerable resources deployed there, the Plan-les-Ouates site is emblematic of the brand’s commitment to master in-house the quality and production processes for the essential components of its watches.

In Plan-les-Ouates, raw material is transformed into the physical exterior of the future watch.

3/4 - THE FOUR SITES

Chêne-Bourg

The Chêne-Bourg site, in the vicinity of Geneva, brings together all the activities linked to the development and production of the dial as well as those related to gemmology and gem-setting. This site is also where Cerachrom bezels and Cerachrom bezel inserts in high-tech ceramic are produced.

The face of the watch takes shape in Chêne-Bourg.

4/4 - THE FOUR SITES

The Bienne site, at the foot of the Jura mountains in the Swiss canton of Berne, is entirely dedicated to developing and manufacturing Rolex movements. Here, the components of the movement – from 200 to nearly 400 for the most complex calibres – are meticulously manufactured, then assembled by hand and rigorously checked. A new extension to the production buildings was opened in 2022.

The heart of the watch starts beating in Bienne.

Rolex Watchmaking Know-how

Excellence in the making

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Inside rolex, rolex manufacturing facility in bienne, switzerland, inside rolex, rolex world headquarters.

Rolex Plan-Les-Site

Rolex Dial and Bezel Facility

Rolex Movement Making Facility

Hans Wilsdorf

Rolex Movement Mak ing Facility

About Jake's Rolex World Terms of Use

INSIDE ROLEX

WatchTime Exclusive: Inside Rolex Bienne

On a rare tour of Rolex ’s movement-manufacturing complex in Bienne, Switzerland, WatchTime’s Joe Thompson and Norma Buchanan witnessed the making of the Cosmograph Daytona Caliber 4130.

The first thing that strikes you is its sheer size. The Rolex movement -making complex, on the outskirts of Bienne, Switzerland, is a study in gigantism. It consists of four monolithic buildings, occupying 170,000 cubic meters of space. It’s imposing, and, with its air of impregnability, a little mysterious. We ride out there one February afternoon because Rolex has agreed to give us, two WatchTime editors, a tour of the facility, a mainplate-to- hairspring view of how it makes its movements, 750,000-plus of them per year. Before the tour, we receive a background briefing, a combination of live presentation and film. It takes place in a proportionately large auditorium attached to what is surely the biggest watch-company reception area we’ve ever been in: a two-story-high, light-filled atrium with a Rolex-green marble floor. This complex, Manufacture des Montres Rolex SA, located in an industrial zone called Champs-de-Boujean, is the sister of Rolex SA in Geneva, which makes cases, bracelets and dials; assembles the watches; and does the company’s gem-setting. Rolex corporate headquarters are also in Geneva.

Here in Bienne, about 2,000 employees make movement components, 50 million of them per year, assemble the movements, and send them to Switzerland’s chronometer-testing agency, COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres) to receive chronometer certification. (All Rolex-made movements receive certification except for most in the Cellini collection — although Cellini Prince models are COSC-certified.) Rolex Bienne then ships the movements to Rolex Geneva for casing. The four Bienne buildings, set against the backdrop of the Jura mountains, are called Rolex III, IV, V and VI. (Rolex I and II are old, former factory buildings near the center of Bienne. Rolex no longer owns them.) The company also has a factory in the town of Le Locle, employing 150 people, where some movement assembly takes place.

Until 2004, Rolex Bienne and Rolex Geneva had different owners. The former belonged to the descendants of Jean Aegler, whose Aegler SA factory in Bienne provided movements to Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf starting in 1905. Rolex Geneva was, and still is, owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which Wilsdorf established in 1945. Several years ago, Rolex Geneva bought the Bienne facility and the two were merged. That move, along with Rolex’s long-term project of acquiring many of its suppliers of components and equipment, has transformed the company into a vertically integrated manufacture . Class over, we set out on the tour. It will have a theme, says François Paschoud, one of the facility’s technical directors: We will be following the manufacturing steps of Rolex’s famous Caliber 4130, the chronograph movement that Rolex launched in 2000 to replace the Zenith El Primero caliber it had been using in its Cosmograph Daytona models. That introduction was a major event for Rolex; it meant that from that point on all movements used in the Rolex brand were made in-house (watches in Rolex’s sister brand, Tudor, have ETA movements).

Click here to download the full article in WatchTime’s Rolex E-Special.

This article was originally posted on December 28, 2012 and has been updated.

Rolex, like most Swiss luxury watches, is heavily marketed. The Swiss are good at marketing and have been for 400 years. Rolex is especially good, thus their undeniable success. Rolex is a well made watch and a joy to service–at least they were when they would still sell repair parts.

Omega, on the other hand, while making wonderful watches for many years, and actually, going back forty or fifty years, held in higher esteem than Rolex, since being swallowed up by SWATCH Group are nothing more than pedestrian ETA movements tarted up with perlage.

The Co-Axial escapement? There is that. It has been through at least three iterations now and the jury is still out on reliability. This is the movement designed to run without oil. However, if one wishes access to Omega parts, one must take a class in New Jersey on how to properly oil the Co-Axial escapement.

My Dad bought a Rolex when I was a toddler (late 1950’s). It was to be worn, not a toy to be shown off. He lost it while throwing bait out in a River fishing competition. Devastated he was telling the other anglers on the bus ride home. Someone piped up ‘that’s odd, I caught a watch today’. There it was, Dad’s Rolex, thrown (flung off the end of his arm anyway), into a River, down to the bottom, and then hooked and retrieved.

I’m nearly 58 now, Dad ‘lives’ in an urn, his watch lives with my son. The watchband is stretched well out of shape and so can’t be worn in its present state, but unlike Dad it is still ticking.

For me there’s only one brand.

R 25.11.2014

(true story)

waw ! what a story

FOR ME THERE IS ONLY ONE BRAND TO LOVE, APPRECIATE AND LIFE-POSSESS. THE NAME STARTS WITH THE LETTER R AND ENDS WITH X. THE ALFA AND OMEGA OF WATCH-MAKING. ROLEX, ROLEX, ROLEX…………..

I have yet to see any scientific proof that most Rolex watches are more accurate or more durable or more water resistant then reasonably priced watches that almost anyone can afford.

The one thing that really sets Rolex watches apart is many designs are copied by other manufacturers. All of my watches are based on Rolex or Britling designs that are classic.

If all of the engineering and hand manufacturing resulted in a dramatically superior product then Rolex pricing would be justified. So far most of their watches depreciate dramatically unless there are special circumstances that say otherwise.

Wrong! I own one and its an animal!! Probably your problem is you can’t afford one.

Rolex watches are mass produced and over-advertised status symbols. You are paying double for this advertising onslaught compared to my Omega Seamaster! Use your head. They aren’t even in the top 50 premium watch brands!

And omega is !!!! enjoy your mickey mouse watch.

Interesting reading! tnx for the info, giving us rollies fans more insight.

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In Switzerland, Seeing Where the Watch Magic Happens

Witnessing the peace and the ‘passion’ during a tour of Roger Dubuis.

By Kathleen Beckett

GENEVA — Anyone who loves watches, collects watches or is simply interested in watches wants to do one thing: visit a place where watches are made and see one as it is being created.

That is not always so easy.

The “manufacture” — as the ateliers or factories are called in Switzerland, a.k.a. watch central — are as busy producing their wares as any workplace would be. Plus, in the highly competitive luxury watch market, there also is a sense of wanting to maintain privacy , of protecting the way companies do what they do.

While it is not common for a watch company to open its doors to the curious unless they are Very V.I.P. customers, some brands have created experiences such as guided tours and workshops that allow the public to have a look. But they are not a Disneyland for watch fans, and some require a long drive from a major city.

For example, Zenith offers reservation-only tours once a week in Le Locle, in the Jura Mountains, about 150 kilometers, or 93 miles, northeast of Geneva. In the Vallée de Joux, near the border with France, Jaeger-LeCoultre offers workshops at its Atelier d’Antoine at its headquarters in Le Sentier, as does Audemars Piguet in its Musée Atelier in Le Brassus. Vacheron Constantin and F.P. Journe also allow visits to their more Geneva-centric operations, but only to people they consider the most ardent, and acquisitive, of clients.

Another brand — Roger Dubuis, known for its high-end watches, often skeletonized and often in collaboration with luxury car brands — recently opened its doors in Meyrin, on the outskirts of Geneva, to a journalist and a photographer who were greeted by what it calls its “manufacture ambassador,” Francesca Stellino.

Her job is to welcome visitors who have been recommended by a watch boutique (she conducts tours in English, French and Italian) and show them how Roger Dubuis does what it does.

She began the tour in a hallway, in front of a poster with the company’s star-shaped logo, and talked about how the watchmaker Roger Dubuis started the brand in 1995 and championed collaborations with Pirelli tires and Lamborghini cars.

She explained that she was starting the tour there because, she warned, once we passed through a set of heavy doors onto the factory floor we might have trouble hearing her. And she was right.

The doors opened to a floor filled with dozens of big metal machines making a racket. They were being used to create components, as many as 360, that go into making a Roger Dubuis watch. Considering that the brand says it produces as many as 3,000 watches a year, that is a lot of pressing, cutting, milling, filing and polishing.At points throughout the process, parts were washed in what Ms. Stellino called, no surprise, the “washing room.” What went on inside resembled the action behind a fast-food counter, with components dropped into wire baskets and dipped into liquids, like baskets of French fries being lowered into oil.

Next step was in the “rodage et tribofinition” room, where parts were polished using a luxurious exfoliant — soap with diamond powder. Back on the main factory floor, we passed a storage cabinet that looked like a floor-to-ceiling wine rack filled with hundreds of metal rods of various widths. They were destined to be turned into pieces like “pinions, screws and wheels,” Ms. Stellino said. The three-meter-long (10-foot) metal cylinder that forms those is called the décolletage. Once the rods are cut, some of the round discs that result are run through a different machine that creates tiny teeth around their circumference that will eventually engage a watch’s gears.

Ms. Stellino stopped in front of a machine so old that some of the orange paint covering its surface had chipped away. “It’s the mother of micromechanics,” she said, used to cut “some of the crazy components of Roger Dubuis watches, like the hammers that produce the sound of the minute repeater.”

Once the pieces are produced, they head to other, quieter workrooms, and into the hands of artisans, male and female, young and mature. More polishing is in order, even on the tiniest of pieces, and it is done in one of several ways, using pastes or the most refined of sandpapers. Polishers require a “minimum of 10 years’ experience,” Ms. Stellino explained. “They work with their eyes and their ears,” listening for the particular sound that tells them that the polishing is right.

One of the workers is the company’s expert in polishing tourbillon cages until they shine like a black mirror, the “poli noir” or the black polish finish that, Ms. Stellino said, “was Mr. Dubuis’ favorite.”

Cameras zeroed in on some of the work the artisans were doing and magnified it on screens around the workrooms so visitors could see exactly what was being done.Next, we headed to the floor where the parts are assembled and turned into watches, and also where clients’ watches with complications are serviced. But first we put on white lab coats and covered our shoes with blue plastic bootees that looked like shower caps, the better to keep us from tracking in dirt and dust. Once again, we opened a set of heavy doors, but this time it was to a sanctuary of quiet concentration.

Here, dozens of watchmakers, many wearing magnifying glasses or goggles, were seated at desks and overseeing aspects of assembling timepieces. The work is so detailed, so precise, so exacting, that one watchmaker, putting together a minute repeater, equated it to being “like open-heart surgery.”

A watch in the making here undergoes quality-control checks all along its way into the world. Once all it needs is a strap and buckle, it goes into a machine labeled “Cyclo 5” that has wheels to test it for an entire week in all the positions a human wrist might make. If, at the end, the watch’s time is off by less than a minute, it gets the valued Poinçon de Genève or Geneva seal .

“A watch is a piece of art,” Ms. Stellino said as the tour concluded, and like a piece of art, the latest models were on display under bell jars placed on pedestals. Some models had yet to be revealed publicly, and provided an additional insider’s view into the world of watches.

Nicola Andreatta, chief executive of Roger Dubuis, said the visits are “a big part of our client experience.

“When people come and see what we do, their perception changes,” he continued. “It adds value.”

Normally, visitors would have to arrange a tour through their local Dubuis dealer or watch boutique. The brand said it has been welcoming hundreds of people each year, including collectors and members of various clubs, and projected that the tally will reach 200 this year.

After spending on average of 1 hour 15 minutes seeing all the watchmakers, all the machines, all the tools, the expertise and the “passion” that goes into making their watches, people understand why they cost tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of dollars, Mr. Andreatta said.

They may never look at the watch on their wrist in quite the same way again.

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Rewind That Time We Got An Unprecedented Look Inside All Four Rolex Factories In Switzerland

It was over two years ago and we kinda still can't believe it..

Over two years ago, in March of 2015, something happened that we at HODINKEE had always dreamed of but never really expected: we were given access to all four of Rolex's main manufacturing centers. Les Acacias (located across the Arve River from Geneva) Plan-Les-Ouates, Chêne-Bourg, and of course, Bienne, where Rolex movements are made, were all on the itinerary and and while we went there with a lot of assumptions about what does and doesn't go on during the creation of Rolex watches, a lot of those assumptions were overturned and as well, we were exposed to an incredible wealth of new information.

Among the things we discovered was the fact that a lot more hand-work goes into making Rolex watches than we'd realized and that indeed, Rolex is one of the most thoroughly vertically integrated watch manufacturers on the planet, a situation which is partly responsible for the amazing degree of uniform high quality of manufacturing and performance on which Rolex's reputation has been built, and which has made it what it is today.

And we weren't just wowed by all the new information we got; we saw evidence, again and again, that Rolex is doing things its own way and doing them extremely well. An independent watchmaker – not a Rolex employee or associate – whom we consulted for the story in order to get another perspective, told us in part:

"Setting Dufour and Voutilainen level movement finishing aside, from a pure engineering perspective, Rolex's 3130 based calibers have reigned supreme for close to 30 years now. No mass-produced movement outside of Rolex comes close to matching their quality, durability, and reliability. They have come terribly close to defining the epitome of what a perfectly conceived mechanical watch movement should be."

So if you missed the story when we first ran it, or if you're a new(er) HODINKEE reader and community member, or if you just want to step back into one of the most thoroughly interesting and genuinely revelatory factory visits we've ever done, check out Ben's take on what we discovered when we went Inside All Four Rolex Manufacturing Facilities , in 2015.

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Rolex 5100 Beta-21

Rolex 5100 with a Quartz Beta 21 Calibre

While many people are familiar with Rolex’s brief venture into the quartz watch market with the Oysterquartz line of watches, fewer are aware of the very first quartz watch to bear the Rolex name: the reference 5100 Beta-21.

In 1962, Rolex and twenty other Swiss watch manufacturers formed the Centre Electronique Horologer. The purpose of this group was to develop a quartz movement that could be used in wristwatches. In 1966, the first prototype, known as the Beta-1 was produced, and by 1969, its final incarnation, the Beta-21 was ready for production.

Sixteen different watchmaking companies used this movement in their watches, and among these was Rolex, who used it to power the reference 5100 Beta-21. Unveiled at Baselworld 1970, the reference 5100 was released in a special limited series of 1,000 pieces – all made from solid, 18-karat gold – and each with its limited edition number engraved on the side of the case.

Feature wise, the reference 5100 Beta-21 was ahead of its time. In addition to being one of the first Swiss quartz wristwatches, while there are other types of movements available, the Rolex 5100 Beta 21 was a first of its kind. It was also the first Rolex to feature a synthetic sapphire crystal, a hacking feature, and a quickset date function. The reference 5100 was the most expensive watch in the Rolex catalogue at the time, and Rolex did a great deal to showcase its exclusivity and limited numbers. The following quote is from early promotional materials for the reference 5100:

“At our central headquarters in Geneva there is a Golden Register, a Who’s Who of our clients who proudly count a Rolex Quartz among their most precious possessions. They form the Rolex Quartz Club, one of the most exclusive clubs imaginable… Members of the Club are always welcome at Rolex Geneva. On their first visit, they are invited to sign the Golden Register and can enjoy a personal tour of the Geneva world Headquarters.”

The Beta-21 movement was rather large and awkwardly shaped, so the reference 5100 had to use a chunky, 40mm case to house the movement. This was especially large for the time; however buyers loved its bold style, and the large dimensions earned the reference 5100 the nickname, the “Texan”. All 1,000 watches were presold before production even began.

Although the reference 5100 was Rolex’s most expensive, most advanced watch; it was quite a deviation from their usual traditions. The Beta-21 movement was not constructed by Rolex, but rather by one of their Swiss competitors. More importantly, its dimensions made it impossible for Rolex to use their famous Oyster case – the very thing that the company had built its reputation upon.

In 1972, Rolex ceased production of the reference 5100, and withdrew from the Centre Electronique Horologer to pursue the development of their own, in-house quartz movement that would later be seen in the Oysterquartz line of watches. Due to the premium materials and limited production run, the reference 5100 Beta-21 is highly valued by collectors, and epitomizes the evolution of watchmaking during the 1970’s.

About Paul Altieri

Paul Altieri is a vintage and pre-owned Rolex specialist, entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of BobsWatches.com. - the largest and most trusted name in luxury watches. He is widely considered a pioneer in the industry for bringing transparency and innovation to a once-considered stagnant industry. His experience spans over 35 years and he has been published in numerous publications including Forbes, The NY Times, WatchPro, and Fortune Magazine. Paul is committed to staying up-to-date with the latest research and developments in the watch industry and e-commerce, and regularly engages with other professionals in the industry. He is a member of the IWJG, the AWCI and a graduate of the GIA. Alongside running the premier retailer of pre-owned Rolex watches, Paul is a prominent Rolex watch collector himself amassing one of the largest private collections of rare timepieces. In an interview with the WSJ lifestyle/fashion editor Christina Binkley, Paul opened his vault to display his extensive collection of vintage Rolex Submariners and Daytonas. Paul Altieri is a trusted and recognized authority in the watch industry with a proven track record of expertise, professionalism, and commitment to excellence.

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Town Moves on After Hershey’s Plant Departure, Bittersweetness Lingers

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Oakdale, California is a drive-through town for many people heading to and from Yosemite Park. Highway 120 runs right through downtown, which sees more than 9 million vehicles rolling past each year.

About 15 miles northeast of Modesto, Oakdale is a pretty conservative town. Its representatives in Congress and the state Legislature are all Republican.

When I first went there on a reporting trip in October 2007 , it wasn't to visit the Cowboy Museum or sample tri-tip at the House of Beef .

The town had just been rocked by news that the Hershey's chocolate plant, which opened in 1965, was closing and moving its operations to Mexico. Nearly 600 union jobs vanished. I went to see how people were reacting to the loss of not just a major employer, but a company that in many ways had defined the place.

Back then, there was anger at Hershey's, almost the way a jilted lover feels. And plenty of fear about the future. And that was before the bottom fell out of the economy.

I returned to Oakdale earlier this month to see how the town was faring. It's a very friendly and unpretentious place, where regular customers gather in cafes to chat about life. Local farmers bring free boxes of peaches, lemons and other fruit to the local senior center or even into local saloons.

My take: By and large, Oakdale and its 21,000 residents have moved on. A few years ago another candy company, Oakland-based Sconza , moved into the Hershey plant, hiring about 25 of the 600 or so laid-off workers. Others got hired by the local tomato canning plant.

Still, eight years after Hershey's left town it's not hard to find bittersweet feelings. Some miss the smell of chocolate that wafted over Oakdale when the wind shifted just right. Others remember touring the factory when they were kids, and the free candy bar they got at the end.

At Norm's family barbershop on W. F. Street in Oakdale, three generations of men cut hair. Norm Morgan is 82 and says he'll retire when he dies. His son, Randy, joined the family business when he was laid off after 27 years at Hershey's.

"My dad was the one that always told me 'stay at Hershey's. It’s a good place to work. You got a 401(k). You got good benefits, you got good insurance.' So I did," Morgan says.

Until he didn't.

Morgan seems to fondly remember the days when Hershey's put Oakdale on the map. "Anytime someone said, 'where do you live?' I'd say Oakdale. If they said where’s that, I'd say you know where the Hershey plant is? 'Oh yeah, I know where that is.' "

Sitting in his barber chair is retiree Neil Wolfe. Talking about Hershey's move to Mexico, he echoes Donald Trump's criticism of trade deals.

"No unions, no benefits, lower wages," Wolfe says of Hershey's workforce in Mexico. "There’s too much give and no take from a lot of these countries. We’re giving a lot out, and we’re not getting anything back."

All over Oakdale people share rumors or stories they've heard about Hershey's move to Mexico.

"I hear they want to come back here," says one person.

"I hear they have a hard time getting their chocolate across the border with anything left in the truck," someone else says, implying the drivers are held up by bandits.

At the H-B Saloon , 56-year-old Ramona Brown says she won't buy Hershey's chocolate. "You have kids working in them factories down there?" Brown asks. "We don’t know. We have laws here that don’t allow that. They don’t have those laws." Her point: unfair advantages across the border and the possible exploitation of children.

Brown worries about what might happen to union protection in this country if Donald Trump gets elected.

"Trump doesn’t care about anybody but himself," Brown says, nursing a cocktail at the bar. "And Trump doesn’t believe in unions. And unions is what holds a lot of jobs together."

Oakdale City Manager Bryan Whitemyer says the town has bounced back.

"There are still some scars from that move," Whitemyer said. "But Oakdale is a resilient community that has continued to progress and build from that experience, and I think today we’re even better off than when Hershey was here."

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COMMENTS

Can you Visit the Rolex Factory in Switzerland?
Many Swiss watch brands offer curious enthusiasts and customers factory tours. This includes brands such as Girard-Perregaux, Parmigiani, IWC, Zenith, Frederique Constant, and many more. But the answer is that Rolex does not offer any factory tours to the public. Some of the Swiss watch brands that don't offer factory tours have museums that ...
Watchmaking
The Bienne site, at the foot of the Jura mountains in the Swiss canton of Berne, is entirely dedicated to developing and manufacturing Rolex movements. Here, the components of the movement - from 200 to nearly 400 for the most complex calibres - are meticulously manufactured, then assembled by hand and rigorously checked.
Inside The Manufacture Going Where Few Have Gone Before
In this special HODINKEE feature of Inside The Manufacture, I will recount a four day experience that completely changed my perspective on the world's most important watch maker - the time that I got to spend inside all four of Rolex's actual production facilities in Switzerland.I had many ideas about what I would see, and while some were accurate, others could not have been further from the ...
Eight Must-Visit Watch Museums in Switzerland
Here are my top eight: MIH - The Musée international d'Horlogerie in La ChaMusée international d'Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fondsux-de-Fonds houses one of the world's largest and diverse collections of watches and clocks. It is open six days a week from 10 AM to 5 PM (closed on Monday) and offers the perfect start to your Swiss watch ...
What Watch Manufacturers Can You Actually Visit?
Rolex Datejust. Pre-Owned Rolex Datejust 116234 Pink Roman Dial. $7,995. Rolex Submariner. Rolex Submariner 116610LV Green Hulk. $22,395. Patek Philippe Twenty-4. Patek Philippe Twenty~4 Stainless Steel. $34,995
Inside Rolex, Rolex Manufacturing Facility in Bienne, Switzerland
Here is a fascinating video tour or the new Rolex movement factory located in Bienne, Switzerland. The Journal has a fascinating article about the all-new Rolex movement factory . This following photos were all taken on site at Rolex's all-new Building 7 located in Bienne, Switzerland where all the Rolex movements are made.
WatchTime Exclusive: Inside Rolex Bienne
On a rare tour of Rolex's movement-manufacturing complex in Bienne, Switzerland, WatchTime's Joe Thompson and Norma Buchanan witnessed the making of the Cosmograph Daytona Caliber 4130.. The first thing that strikes you is its sheer size. The Rolex movement-making complex, on the outskirts of Bienne, Switzerland, is a study in gigantism.It consists of four monolithic buildings, occupying ...
SPECIAL
Rolex is notoriously secretive about almost everything. But in one unique occasion, I had the opportunity to enter and see all of the manufacturing sites of ...
In Switzerland, Seeing Where the Watch Magic Happens
She began the tour in a hallway, in front of a poster with the company's star-shaped logo, and talked about how the watchmaker Roger Dubuis started the brand in 1995 and championed ...
Rewind: That Time We Got An Unprecedented Look Inside All Four Rolex
An independent watchmaker - not a Rolex employee or associate - whom we consulted for the story in order to get another perspective, told us in part: "Setting Dufour and Voutilainen level movement finishing aside, from a pure engineering perspective, Rolex's 3130 based calibers have reigned supreme for close to 30 years now.
Home
Re: Corona Virus. In March 2020 Swiss watch tours stopped taking bookings for watch tours whilst there is a remaining possibility to the health and well being of visitors, contractors, watch company staff and others being affected by the corona virus (covid19). We hope to resume taking bookings from the end of June but visitors should write to ...
The Golden Ticket to Tour the Factory: The Rolex 5100 Beta-21
Members of the Club are always welcome at Rolex Geneva. On their first visit, they are invited to sign the Golden Register and can enjoy a personal tour of the Geneva world Headquarters.". The Beta-21 movement was rather large and awkwardly shaped, so the reference 5100 had to use a chunky, 40mm case to house the movement.
HOW IT'S MADE: Rolex Watches
Everyone watching this episode on How It's Made has at least once wondered what it is about Rolex that makes it so unique to any other watch brand. As we all...
A look inside the Rolex factory
a brief look inside the Rolex factory.i do not own the video. all rights belong to Rolex
Rolex
Rolex Romain Jerome Shamballa Jewels Swatch TAG Heuer Tiffany & Co. Tissot Tudor Ulysse Nardin Urwerk Vacheron Constantin Van Cleef & Arpels Van Der Bauwede VENUS Victorinox Vulcain Zenith ...
Rolex factory tour
Never again. They wouldn't even let Thierry Stern get a glimpse of any part if their factory or assembly. You want a Rolex tour, you have three options, buy Rolex SA(not for sale), go to your nearest AD and stare at all the Rolexes you want or go to an RSC and walk around the waiting room. Good luck. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Rolex factory tour article
Rolex Forums - Rolex Watch Forum > Rolex & Tudor Watch Topics > Rolex General Discussion: Rolex factory tour article
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Journey with Rivers of Steel up the Monongahela River and hear the stories about how this mighty river helped to shape Pittsburgh's early commercial and industrial success, helping to define the city we have today. The Hardest Working River Tour is a special tour offered several times in the spring season and again each fall. Travel the Mon!
ROLEX
Rolex, a Swiss watchmaking company headquartered in Geneva, is recognized the world over for its expertise and the quality of its products. Its Oyster Perpet...
Town Moves on After Hershey's Plant Departure, Bittersweetness ...
Others remember touring the factory when they were kids, and the free candy bar they got at the end. At Norm's family barbershop on W. F. Street in Oakdale, three generations of men cut hair. Norm Morgan is 82 and says he'll retire when he dies. His son, Randy, joined the family business when he was laid off after 27 years at Hershey's. ...
Hershey Plant Locations
Milton Hershey was looking for the ideal location for his new chocolate factory and turned to central Pennsylvania, with its clean water, pastoral beauty and access to farm fresh milk. Today, The Hershey Company is still headquartered in Hershey, PA with additional state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and around the world.
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