Rolex dominates the luxury watch space, with the brand alone accounting for nearly a third of the Swiss watch market. So perhaps it’s time for the Crown to expand and find another industry to dominate. Specifically, the smartphone market. Or, at least, that’s what a new report would have us believe.
On January 10, mobile phone news and reviews site GSMArena published a story claiming that Chinese technology brand Realme was partnering with Rolex on a special version of its upcoming Realme 12 Pro smartphone. The report is based on an allegedly leaked image of an ad showing the phone alongside a Rolex Datejust, with copy in the ad describing the collaboration. But is it real, or is the image a hoax?
The Alleged Rolex x Realme Collab
The cited source of GSMArena’s image is X (formerly known as Twitter) user @ZionsAnvin, who appears to be an India-based tech reporter. His original tweet shares the image with the following commentary: “Here is the Realme 12 Pro+ … Seems like a co-brand with Rolex.”
So … not a whole lot to go on.
Digging a little deeper, we begin to notice some cracks in the story. For one, the Rolex shown in the ad — a Datejust in yellow Rolesor with fluted bezel and dark blue dial on an Oyster bracelet — does not exist in either 36mm or 41mm variants. GSMArena speculates this could be because the watch is a special edition set to be released alongside the phone. I’m not so sure.
Now, onto the copy of the alleged ad. Here’s what it says:
A legend, a timeless classic. A hundred years of classic watch design polishing new mobile phone industrial design, classic leather and delicate industrial polishing, so that every angle is full of visual enjoyment, the sense of luxury overflows.
Obviously, I’ve got a few issues with this copy, the first of which is that it doesn’t make any sense. It seems like it was written in another language and then translated to English, but why would the ad exist in English at all if the phone is intended for the Chinese market? Outside of the nonsensical wording, the details are also wrong. Rolex has been around as a brand since 1908, making it 116 years old, so why would a brand so closely linked with precision be so imprecise when describing its own age?
There Is an Actual Realme Watch Collab
I am firmly in the camp of believing that this Rolex x Realme collab is a hoax, but I can also see where it may have originated. Realme itself recently revealed that the Realme 12 Pro was designed in conjunction with Ollivier Savéo, a bespoke luxury watchmaker who, as far as I can tell, has no affiliation with Rolex. I think it’s likely someone saw the words “luxury watch,” thought of the brand most associated with the genre — i.e., Rolex — and then had a little fun in Photoshop.
Finally, roughly 11 hours after the original tweet of the supposedly leaked ad, Realme revealed the 12 Pro smartphone in a tweet of its own. The phone is the exact same image as the one from the “Rolex” ad, sporting a blue leather back with gold accents and a fluted gold ring around the camera lens assembly. What it’s lacking, however, is any mention of Rolex, and instead describes the “Submarine Blue” design (not Submariner Blue) as being derived from “luxury watch design.”
There Is No Rolex Smartphone
I am quite confident in my assessment that Rolex has not partnered with Realme on a smartphone. Rolex is an extremely cautious brand that makes very calculated moves, and a random collab with an unassociated watchmaker and a Chinese smartphone brand that mainly produces products that look a whole lot like Apple products doesn’t seem very likely. Just to be sure, though, I’ve reached out to Rolex for comment on the story and will update as soon as I hear back.
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