WatchCharts September 2024 Watch Market Update: Patek Philippe Aquanaut Holding Value, TAG Heuer Less So
by Hamza Masood
Hamza Masood is the Business Development Manager at WatchCharts.com, which has kindly allowed us to share their monthly Market Updates.
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The WatchCharts Overall Market Index saw its largest monthly drop so far this year in August, losing 1.0% of its value. The last time we reported this index losing more than 1% of its value in a single calendar month was in November 2023. Rolex prices fell -0.8% last month while Patek Philippe prices fell -0.5%. Audemars Piguet prices fell by -0.6% for the second month in a row.
The chart below shows the month-over-month changes for the Overall Market Index and Big Three brand indexes this year. The Overall Market Index had its worst month of the year in August, while the Big Three index declines were in line with the longer term trend observed this year.
The Overall Market and Rolex indexes are now at their lowest point in over three and a half years, while the Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet indexes are at their lowest point in over three years.
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State Of New Releases From Watches & Wonders 2024
Nearly half a year on since Watches & Wonders, some 2024 releases have already made their way onto the secondary market and into our price database. In this section, we’ll review the market price and value retention relative to retail for five watches from Rolex, Tudor, and Patek Philippe.
As could be expected, this year’s new Tudor Black Bay references are already trading at or below their retail prices, less than six months after their release. The Black Bay 58 GMT first arrived on the secondary market at a healthy premium over retail.
However, as is usually the case with Tudor watches, as more inventory becomes available on the primary market, prices on the secondary market eventually drop below the retail price.
While the new GMT-Master II reference in steel has strong value retention it is already less expensive than the Pepsi GMT ref. 126710BLNR. The all-gold Deepsea is the first time Rolex has released one of its “serious” dive watches (Deepsea and Sea-Dweller) in a full gold version. It currently trades at a 10% premium above its retail price and in this list of watches is the most recent one for which we have published a market price.
The Aquanaut Travel Time has the highest value retention in this selection, reflecting collector desirability for the brand, the Aquanaut collection, and this newest travel time complication in white gold. Its market price is close to double that of the 5164A in stainless steel no longer in production, and about a third higher than the market price of the rose gold 5164A still in production.
| Brand | Model | Retail Price (USD) | Market Price (Value Retention) |
| Patek Philippe | Aquanaut 5164G | $63,040 | $126,430 (+100%) |
| Rolex | Deepsea 136668LB | $54,200 | $59,850 (+10%) |
| Rolex | GMT-Master II 126710GRNR | $10,700 | $19,040 (+78%) |
| Tudor | Black Bay 58 GMT 7939G1A0NRU | $4,600 | $4,610 (0%) |
| Tudor | Black Bay 41 7941A1A0NU | $4,425 | $3,730 (-16%) |
Secondary Market Performance by Brand in August 2024
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Best and Worst Performing Collections in August 2024
Some of the best and worst performing collections for the month are included in the table below. Most collections that have seen significant changes in value on a monthly basis are at three-digit price points and therefore do not significantly impact or represent the state of the market.
While the Aquanaut collection is one of the better performers of August, it is essentially flat over the past three months.
The TAG Heuer Formula 1 collection is the worst performer of August at any price point (the TAG Hauer Index had the worst performance of any brand with an index value over 3,000 in the past month, and is one of the worst performing brand indexes of the past six months).
It is important to highlight that our TAG Heuer Formula 1 index does not include any references from the limited edition KITH collaboration launched earlier this year.
| Brand | Collection | August Delta % |
| Cartier | Panthère | +1.2% |
| Patek Philippe | Aquanaut | +1.0% |
| BVLGARI | Octo | +0.9% |
| Rolex | Daytona | -2.7% |
| Jaeger-LeCoultre | Master | -2.9% |
| TAG Heuer | Formula 1 | -8.8% |
* Hamza Masood is the Business Development Manager at WatchCharts.com. You can check out previous Market Updates at https://watchcharts.com/articles/category/dispatch and there’s more market insights and analysis on their YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watchcharts
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If I remember correctly, the Aquanaut listed above at 100% value over retail, isn’t made anymore?
That’s correct Steve, while there are other Aquanauts still in production, the Patek Aquanaut Travel Time in stainless steel Ref.5164a was discontinued earlier this year (along with a couple more Aquanaut references).
Regards, Ian