Brian Duffy

Spear’s Review

When the new Rolex boutique on Old Bond Street opened in March 2025, it was described as ‘less a retail space than a marble-lined declaration of absolute supremacy’ by Spear’s contributing editor Timothy Barber.

But the 6,500sq ft monolith – bigger than any Rolex boutique in Europe or America – is actually owned and run not by the famous Swiss marque that accounts for 32 per cent of the entire watch market, but by a British company: the retailer Watches of Switzerland.

Though its share price has fallen back from the headiest days of pandemic-inspired watch market mania, Watches of Switzerland remains a key player – with £1.6 billion in turnover – thanks in no small part to its CEO since 2014, Brian Duffy.

Duffy, who grew up on a Glasgow council estate, didn’t go to university but qualified as an accountant with KPMG before moving to the US-headquartered lingerie business Playtex, where he climbed the ladder at breakneck speed, becoming worldwide finance chief at the age of 33. He later moved across into branding and played a role in the famous ‘Hello Boys’ relaunch of Wonderbra in 1994.

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