Rolex's Fight Against Custom Watches Reaches Canada

Just in the past decade, we’ve seen numerous legal battles between Rolex and the watch customization and resale world: LaCalifornienne’s hand-refinished vintage Rolex dials, Artisans de Genève’s deeply-technical custom Rolex builds, and Skeleton Concept’s high-end Rolex customs, the latter of whom was hit with roughly €710,000 in damages in February of 2025. The pattern is consistent: Rolex doesn't have a problem with watch customization itself, but rather when customizers reproduce Rolex trademarks, carry and sell stock of custom Rolex watches (as opposed to doing customer-commissioned projects), or otherwise blur the line between themselves and Rolex’s involvement/endorsement. The latest case, filed August 14 in Quebec, tests these ideas in a unique way.

Image sources: Facebook

Enter 34-year-old Julien Duguay, a Quebec jeweler and social-media influencer who runs a jewelry store called Bijoux Medusa. Duguay trained in gemology at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). His store won the 2023 Canadian Jewelry Retailer of the Year Award. In addition to jewelry, Duguay offers customized watches — Rolex, Breitling, Cartier, among others —  mostly “iced-out” or “bust-down” gem-set models with aftermarket diamonds across the dial, case, bracelet, and/or bezel (yes, even the Breitlings). Don’t worry – we’ll take a look at some of these watches in detail.

Rolex alleges that Bijoux Medusa sells modified watches carrying Rolex trademarks, dressing genuine Rolexes with aftermarket diamonds and other stones and then presenting them in a way that suggests they left the factory that way. Rolex's claim is trademark infringement and unfair competition through consumer confusion, and the brand is asking for more than $50,000 in damages. Duguay denies wrongdoing and filed his statement of defence in Federal Court on August 21 (more on that in a moment). Nothing here has been proven in court.

What Bijoux Medusa Is Doing

Screenshot source: BijouxMedusa.com

Bijoux Medusa sells Rolex watches, both custom and unmodified. If you visit the store’s website and navigate to the "Rolex Watches" page, you’ll read (translated from French):

“The largest selection of custom Rolex watches with Iced Out diamonds in Quebec! The Rolex models below are all 100% authentic watches that are also available in stock. Each watch is a genuine "CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED" Rolex.”

That phrase — Certified Pre-Owned — means something in the context of buying a Rolex. Select authorized dealers (ADs) are part of Rolex’s Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) program, which offers guaranteed authenticity from Rolex itself, a two-year official Rolex warranty, and an in-person experience that’s similar to buying a new Rolex. Bijoux Medusa is not a Rolex AD, nor is it a Rolex CPO dealer.

On this Rolex Watches page, “Certified Pre-Owned” or in French “CERTIFIÉE D'OCCASION” links to a page called “Rolex Certified” that now returns a 404 error. So that page is not live on the Bijoux Medusa site. But looking on the internet archive, we can see it was a simple text page providing a definition of Certified Pre-Owned that would go against Rolex’s, claiming:

“'Certified Pre-Owned’ is certainly a term you have come across when considering purchasing pre-owned Rolex watches, but not all companies follow the same definition of this term… A Genuine Certified Pre-Owned Rolex has been inspected and 100% guaranteed by two different, fully independent accredited companies, and not just the store where the watch is sold.” 

Screenshot source: BijouxMedusa.com

Back on the Rolex Watches page, under the text, we see a collection of pre-owned, unmodified modern Rolexes — I see a Bruce Wayne GMT-Master II, numerous Sky-Dwellers, Oyster Perpetuals — as well as customized watches, some with custom gemsetting, some with entirely aftermarket dials, and some with custom cases/bracelets.

Screenshot source: BijouxMedusa.com

Take the above watch, advertised as a Rolex Datejust 41mm ref. 126300, with a dial that reads “Who Cares I’m Already Late,” with a pile of numbers below. This is a remake of the 2016 collaboration between MAD Paris and Colette, who made a custom Rolex Milgauss with the original version of this dial (blue text), limited to five pieces. Today, aftermarket versions of this dial are a dime a dozen, and here we see a green version, in a bust-down Datejust, with a lightning bolt seconds hand (even though it’s not a Milgauss) and an emerald bezel.

Screenshot source: BijouxMedusa.com

Or take this watch: a diamond-set “Rolex Datejust 16013” bearing what can only be described as unconvincing recreations of Rolex trademarks. The “ROLEX” text is incredibly tall and the “DATEJUST” text appears at 6 o'clock, which is not accurate to the 16013. 

You might be thinking: don’t a lot of jewelry stores do this? It’s not uncommon to walk into a jeweler and see custom watches — iced-out Datejusts, watches with aftermarket parts — alongside modern pre-owned Rolex inventory. From my experience in multiple major American cities, yes, this is fairly common in non-ADs.

Some more customized Rolex watches. Image sources: BijouxMedusa.com

The important things are presentation, clarity, and disclosure. In person, I’m sure Duguay and the staff at Bijoux Medusa are transparent about the originality of their watches. Online, however, the way you present your “Rolex Watches” inventory is really important, particularly if you’re using the term “Certified Pre-Owned.” 

Importantly, every custom Rolex I found on the website discloses (at the bottom of the product description):

“This watch has been customized by Medusa and is not covered by the manufacturer's warranty. Instead, we offer a 24-month warranty. Medusa Jewelry is not an authorized Rolex retailer; all our watches are Certified Pre-Owned"

This disclosure, which doubles down on the CPO label, comes after:

“Our expert watchmakers have serviced and restored this watch according to Rolex quality standards.”

What Duguay Argues

Duguay posted his statement of defense on an Instagram story, which denies Rolex’s claims with the exception of admitting “the allegations in paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Claim.” Unfortunately, I can’t find Rolex’s statement of claim, so we don’t know what those allegations are.

The rest of the defense claims watches and watch dials “have merely been embellished or customized, for example, by the addition of diamonds and other precious gemstones.” We’ve highlighted a few examples that go against that claim. It asserts that Rolex’s “Certified Pre-Owned” program does not operate in Canada, that Rolex doesn’t have exclusive rights to the term “Certified Pre-Owned,” and that it’s simply a generic and descriptive term. I’m interested to see if that defense holds up; on one hand, many companies have CPO programs, and on the other, it’s commonly understood to imply manufacturer warranty/refurbishment. The defense further points to Bijoux Medusa's own disclaimers calling the watches "customized by Medusa" and the shop "not an official Rolex dealer." And it argues Duguay shouldn't be a defendant at all, since he acted only as the company's agent, never in a personal capacity.

Final Thoughts

Canada hasn't settled any of this, so the ruling could set a local precedent that doesn't yet exist, which is a big reason to watch it. I’ve never visited Bijoux Medusa, so I can’t speak to what the in-person experience is like. But from what I can see online, some of these claims will be tough to defend without conceding changes in marketing presentation/language. The repeated use of “Certified Pre-Owned,” “100% authentic,” and “Rolex quality standards” on the product pages of customized watches (often with entirely aftermarket parts), is an issue. When it comes to buying and selling watches, we all know that unadulterated transparency is key. 

We’ll be keeping an eye on this case going forward, and we’re curious to know your thoughts about it. Let us know what you think about Rolex customization in the comments below.