I think you're misinterpreting the mass market. Yes if you're into watches you know Patek. How many people are into watches? Even the people who can afford to b

I think you're misinterpreting the mass market. Yes if you're into watches you know Patek. How many people are into watches? Even the people who can afford to buy Pateks aren't necessarily into watches. I know nobody who would know them. On the other hand, Rolex is literally one of the most recognised and reputable brands in the world. There are companies which track this stuff, and every study ranks them within top 100 in the world for brand equity, recognition, reputation, etc among general consumers. Just with a cursory look now, I see one study from 2014 which ranks them second in the world, only behind Disney: http://www.forbes.com/sites/arieladams/2014/04/14/why-rolex-watches-are-the-most-reputable-consumer-products-in-the-world-according-to-industry-study/#65cc25b771e0 http://www.forbes.com/sites/arieladams/2014/04/14/why-rolex-... Don't forget, they sponsor a lot of stuff. You can't watch sports without seeing their logo everywhere. As I said, people wouldn't recognise a Rolex watch...but the brand, yeah. I'd be extremely surprised if 90% of people in a bank in Switzerland don't know of the brand Rolex.