A tray of Rolex watches are seen on a dealership’s stand at the London Watch Show on March 19, 2022 in London, England.
Leon Neal|Getty Images
Prices for high-end watches are near a two-year short on the previously owned market, reversing a rally that brought watches like Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet to tape highs throughout the pandemic.
The typical cost of a watch offered previously owned has actually fallen 31% considering that March 2022, according to Watch Charts, a high-end watch cost tracker. At the marketplace’s peak, the typical cost of a high-end watch offered previously owned skyrocketed to $45,108, with purchasers paying up to 5 times the retail worth for sought-after watches.
“It was an unprecedented time in history where people were home captive. You also had a little bit of cryptocurrency and bitcoin run-up,” stated Paul Altieri, CEO of watch resale website Bob’sWatches “What’s going on now is a happy, healthy correction.”
During the pandemic, lots of people who were stuck at house and flushed with stimulus money required to high-end costs. With numerous see designs not available at retail, lovers gathered to the previously owned market.
“It was interesting that the price hike mainly happened among three family-owned brands: Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. But we did not see this for most of the other brands last year,” stated Tim Stracke, CEO of Chrono24, a German- based online market for secondhand watches.
Now, people have actually been flooding the marketplace with the really exact same stocks, dragging down total rates. The slump was especially plain for renowned designs like Rolex’s Daytona, Patek Philippe’s Nautilus and Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, according toStracke
“When prices reach these super high levels, that also attracts a lot more sellers, so the supply of the most iconic pieces from the three brands tripled within just five or six months,” statedStracke
Market correction
Experts have actually been alerting that a high-end watch bubble might break in addition to cryptocurrency and other fashionable pandemic booms.
The most significant brand names have actually dropped in the in 2015, with typical previously owned Rolex rates falling 12% from a year back, average Patek Philippe rates falling 19% and Audemars Piguet falling 17%, according to Watch Charts.
But the current decreases appear to mark a stabilization.
The previously owned market is still well above cost levels 3 years back. Overall cost has to do with 20% greater considering that August 2020, with average Rolex rates up 26%, average Patek Philippe rates up 94% and Audemars Piguet up 100%, according to Watch Charts.
The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116500 design, for instance– amongst the most greatly weighted watches on the Watch Charts index, is presently noted at around $29,000, almost double its initial cost. A Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 Stainless Steel design will require $103,357, typically, a threefold boost from its retail listing of $34,890, according to Watch Charts.
“There’s definitely been some landings in 2023, but we see that the prices overall have definitely stayed much higher than they were pre-pandemic. I don’t think it’s a burst of a bubble,” stated Pierre Dupreelle, handling partner at Boston ConsultingGroup “I think as the economy stabilizes, you can see the prices stabilizing or maybe starting to rise again.”
And the reasonably lower rates might provide a purchasing chance for a brand-new generation of consumers and collectors.
Millennials and Generation Z are establishing a cravings for the high-end watches and status signs. A current BCG report discovered that 54% of Gen Z and millennial purchasers stated they had actually increased their costs on high-end watches in the previous 2 years.
“I would love to buy another Rolex. Seeing the price of them fall kind of makes it less like a risky investment. You don’t want to pay more for something if you could just wait and pay less,” stated Brian Burns, a millennial experience guide and owner of a Rolex Submariner.
“Personally, I really appreciate the craftsmanship of watches,” stated Chan Hirunsri, a 20- year-old trainee at Penn StateUniversity “I bought a Grand Seiko SBGA407 in May when prices were relatively low, and I am waiting to explore Rolex.”
