Last week, Icebox / Swiss Watches GA, a third party retailer of pre-owned watches, officially acknowledged receipt of a lawsuit filed by Rolex USA in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia - Atlanta Division. A screenshot of the Icebox / Swiss Watches GA retail location Source: Rolex's legal filing. The cause of action for Rolex's lawsuit against Icebox / Swiss Watches GA is "Trademark Counterfeiting, Trademark Infringement, False Advertising, Designation of
Origin, Descriptions, Representations, and Unfair Competition." I've previously covered lawsuits of this sort filed by Rolex against independent retailers who sell modified watches. But this one is an order of magnitude different.
Icebox / Swiss Watches GA has some very high-profile clientele. For example, a YouTube video from five years ago entitled "Post Malone Buys Rolex For 21 Savage & Autographs A Bugatti!" has over seven million views (the video content is pretty well-covered by the title, Posty did visit the store). Icebox's YouTube channel has over one billion views and 2.74 million subscribers. Rolex, themselves, make note of the significant social media clout Icebox / Swiss Watches GA lays claim to. In their complaint, the watch brand notes "Defendants have a significant following on their social media accounts, including but not limited to, on Defendants’ Instagram Page (4.7 million followers), Defendants’ Facebook Page (964K followers), Defendants’ TikTok Page (8.1 million followers), and Defendants’ YouTube Page (2.72 million subscribers)." Icebox's web page, as of today, lists two locations within Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Georgia and Florida.
The legal filing and complaint is somewhat standard at this point, but tailored to Icebox / Swiss Watches GA. A screenshot of a watch which Rolex allegedly bought secretly. Rolex also alleges the watch has aftermarket and trademark-infringing parts. Source: Rolex's legal complaint. Rolex sent a secret shopper to the business and bought a watch that "was originally sold as a stainless steel and white gold, ROLEX Lady Datejust model reference 179174, with fluted bezel and black dial, and distributed in 2008." Icebox / Swiss Watches GA sold the timepiece to Rolex's secret shopper for $8,200.99, allegedly. Rolex also claims that their examination of the timepiece showed that "The original, white gold, fluted bezel was replaced with a white metal of some kind with 'diamonds,' neither of which were of Rolex manufacture nor consistent with Rolex’s high-quality standards." The OEM black dial was also allegedly replaced with what appears to be a gemset mother-of-pearl dial which was not originally manufactured by Rolex. The gem prongs were apparently not in precious metal (Rolex would expect that an OEM dial would not use base metal setting) and the coronet was attached to the dial "with a visible adhesive." My expectations is that an OEM dial would rivet the coronet to the dial.
It may seems fair for Icebox / Swiss Watches GA to claim innocence since, for example, modified used cars are often sold with no liability incurred by the seller. However, the key issue here is that someone apparently used Rolex's trademark (actually multiple trademarks) to create a dial without Rolex's permission. That makes the dial counterfeit and retailers in the watch industry can not traffic in watches containing counterfeit parts without risk.
Rolex alleged additional potential intellectual property violations by Icebox / Swiss Watches GA. The brand claims that Icebox / Swiss Watches GA took many (presumably copyrighted) images from Rolex's online sources without permission and posted those images to Icebox / Swiss Watches GA online properties. Rolex makes a specific point of highlighting that "Although SwissWatches.com was not and never has been an actual authorized Rolex Jeweler, the SwissWatches.com website posted a list of 'Authorized Rolex Dealers,' that featured unauthorized and embedded images copied from the Rolex website of actual Official Rolex Jewelers. The use of these copied images and links is designed to free ride on Rolex’s hard-earned goodwill and reputation, and to create and further the false and misleading narrative that SwissWatches.com is an Official Rolex Jeweler and/or is otherwise associated, affiliated, or connected with Rolex, when it is not."
I do not like Icebox's odds in this lawsuit. Rolex has an established record of winning these cases, as the brand's counsel noted in a "demand letter" to Icebox / Swiss Watches GA in March of this year. The stakes are high for the retailer. Rolex seeks multi-million dollar compensation for the alleged violations and that "Defendants be required to deliver up for destruction to Rolex all
materials/goods bearing counterfeit or infringing copies of the Rolex Registered Trademarks." My own sense is that most high-profile independent retailers are now on notice: make sure you are not conducting commerce in any manner which might infringe on Rolex's IP. I am not a lawyer, but the potential claim of damages is much, much higher now. Rolex now profits from retail through its ownership of Bucherer (well, Rolex is a non-profit but that's another topic of discussion). And, the brand can now plausibly claim significant financial damages since sale of modified pre-owned "iced out" watches arguably reduce sales through Rolex's own, official, Certified Pre-Owned Program.
As is usually the case, it is important to remember that Icebox / Swiss Watches GA is innocent until proven guilty. Court filings suggest that their legal defense will be filed sometime in July or soon thereafter. I will note that, today, I did not find any Rolex watches listed for sale on Icebox's web page, so for the near future clients of the retailer may not find the inventory they're accustomed to seeing. Rolex's lawsuit is Case 1:25-cv-02841-ELR filed on May 21, 2025.
My book on the history of Rolex marketing is now available on Amazon! It debuted as the #1 New Release in its category. You can find it here.
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