It was once the ultimate status symbol, but the appeal of owning a Rolex appears to be losing its shine.
In the past, with demand outstripping supply, Rolex has reportedly required customers to build a relationship with the brand by spending up to £100,000 on certain timepieces in order to get their hands on the latest models.
However, the Swiss watchmaker’s desperate bid to maintain exclusivity appears to be failing, with HSTikkyTokky, the controversial streamer at the heart of Louis Theroux’s Inside The Manosphere documentary, regularly seen parading his £40,100 Day-Date 40.
Rolexes have also been seen on the wrists of boxer Tyson Fury and his former Love Island star half-brother Tommy Fury, reality TV star Kerry Katona (after she was gifted one from a vintage watch retailer), as well as Geordie Shore’s Chloe Ferry.
The current fashion is for ‘quiet luxury’ and ‘stealth wealth’, but there is nothing subtle about owning a Rolex – which is why it’s the watch of choice for crypto bros to show off their wealth on Instagram.
The apparent shift in clientele has been noticed by other luxury brands, and a recent investigation by French fashion publication Glitz claimed that Hermes employees now note a customer wearing a Rolex as a red flag.
Even the ultra-wealthy can struggle to get their hands on coveted Birkin bags, unless they have a relationship with the brand and its sales assistants – who won’t sell them to just anyone.
And it’s damning that customers wearing Rolexes have been identified as ‘undesirable’ clients.
They were once reserved for the crème de la crème of society – but now influencers, including the controversial HSTikkyTokky, pictured, are getting their hands on Rolex watches
Journalist Louis Pisano wrote on X: ‘Hermes is allegedly stalking their clients. A Glitz investigation has revealed that Hermes employees are Googling clients’ home addresses to determine whether they have a prestigious enough address to be deemed worthy of a Birkin or Kelly.’
He added: ‘One sales associate told Glitz, “Every new client is automatically a suspect”. Signals associates use to identify the “right” client for a quota bag include wearing an Audemars Piguet or Richard Mille watch, while a flashy Rolex can spark mistrust.’
The alleged practice is not official policy for the brand but it has since pledged to make sales policies around purchasing a Birkin more transparent.
Meanwhile, some who own a Rolex have become terrified of wearing them in public amid the current crisis of luxury watch thefts in the UK’s capital.
Earlier this week, BBC Breakfast presenter Ben Thompson said he no longer feels safe in London after his £7,000 Rolex was ripped from his wrist by a gang of muggers.
Mr Thompson, 45, was on his way home from a restaurant in Mayfair, London, when he and his friend Roja Dove were grabbed by six men.
It’s one of the most recent incidents of a worrying trend that sees London residents and tourists targeted by ‘Rolex Rippers’.
Police have recovered only a fraction of the luxury watches stolen in London over the past few years, with thieves keeping thousands.
Pictured: Former Love Island star Tommy Fury wearing a Rolex on day four of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival last week
Former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona said she was gifted a Rolex by a vintage watch company (pictured)
TV personality and former Geordie Shore star, Chloe Ferry, from Newcastle also sports a watch from the Swiss brand
Tyson Fury is known for his extensive watch collection, which includes multiple Rolexes (pictured with Max George in London in 2022)
Some 5,180 timepieces worth more than £3,000 were snatched in the capital between January 2022 and July 2025, but only 59 were found – just one in 88.
One of the most high-profile incidents in recent years was the gunpoint robbery of a £70,000 diamond-encrusted watch from former world boxing champion Amir Khan.
The Olympic silver medallist was targeted as he and his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, left the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, East London, on a night in April 2022.
Gunman Dante Campbell was later jailed for seven years and nine months, while getaway driver Ahmed Bana was locked up for nine years and eight months.
Khan’s case was a rare example of the watch eventually being recovered by police.
The 39-year-old later thanked the Met for their efforts in returning the timepiece and said he would auction it off for charity.
