It is officially stated in an internal memo that Rolex will shut down production for ten days effective 5pm, Tuesday, March 17, 2020. The Swiss watchmaker hopes to resume production on March 27th. However, if the covid-19 coronavirus crisis continues, this date may be pushed back. Rolex has production bases in Geneva, all of which will be closed on command, meaning it will no longer make watches for at least the next week and a half.

This announcement comes on the same day the Canton of Geneva imposed emergency measures where all gatherings and parties of more than five people are banned indoors and outdoors. Also on Monday, Switzerland declared a State of Emergency.

The memo said that Rolex’s decision to halt production is to protect employees and their families and to help slow down the spread of Coronavirus. It remains to be seen whether other replica swiss watch brands will also be discontinued. However, given the situation in the country, others are likely to follow soon.
We learnt from SwissInfo.ch, “the number of people in Switzerland who have tested positive for Covid-19 jumped to 2,200 between Saturday and Sunday.” Along with domestic cases, the landlocked nation borders Italy, France, Austria, and Germany – countries struggling with a surge of novel Coronavirus cases. Switzerland will introduce border checks with Germany, France, and Austria, only allowing Swiss residents and business travels in, reported SwissInfo.ch.

Many of Rolex’s most popular models have multi-year waiting lists at retailers and this halt in the production process – even though it only lasts the minimum duration of 10 days – will not in any way help increase the supply.
Apart from that, since this year’s Baselworld has been pushed back to January 2021, many collectors are already wondering whether we will see a new fake Rolex watches this year, and with all three factories temporarily closed, it has never been so unclear when a new 2020 watch will be released.