WatchCharts July 2025 Watch Market Update: Performance of Top Brands Remains Mixed

Hamza Masood is the Business Development Manager at WatchCharts.com, which has kindly allowed us to share their monthly Market Updates.

————————————————

What happened in June 2025?

For the fourth month in a row, the picture of performance at the top remains mixed: the WatchCharts Overall Market Index fell by -0.1%, prices for Rolex fell by -0.2% and by -0.3% for Audemars Piguet. However, Patek Philippe prices rose by +0.6%. The Rolex index is now positive by +0.4% in the last six months, underscoring a sustained stabilizing trend over the last few months. Prices for Patek Philippe are still very slightly down (-0.2%) over the last six months.

Performance by Brand in June 2025

Prices improved for several brands in June, most notably for Cartier which saw an improvement of over +1%. However, most brands continued to see declining prices.

Some of the best and worst performing collections of June from major brands are listed below.

Brand Collection Delta %
Rolex Sea-Dweller +2.8%
Breguet Tradition +2.0%
Cartier Santos +1.5%
Zenith Defy -1.8%
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master -1.9%
Hublot Classic Fusion -4.5%

A retrospective on the first half of 2025

Besides Rolex, there are a few other brands that have performed relatively well this year – which we discuss below. We also share our broader take on what’s happened in the pre-owned watch market so far this year in the latest video on our YouTube channel.

The strong performance for Cartier in the past month means it was also positive (+0.6%) in the first half of 2025. The gains were driven primarily by price appreciation in the Santos collection.

There are two other brands that are flat year-to-date in mid-July: relative stabilization of Patek Philippe prices is driven by appreciation in Aquanaut and Nautilus prices. For buyers looking for a stainless steel Nautilus, the only current production references left in that collection are the annual calendar 5726A/1A or the chronograph 5990/1A. Similarly, the Aquanaut collection only has the 5167A or 5968A left in current production in steel. The secondary market is the only option left for buyers for watches like the 5711/1A5712/1A5164A, or 5167/1A. These remain incredibly popular references and with their supply now fixed, and secondary market stock availability at a three-year low, it is no surprise that prices have now been stable over six months.

The other brand flat year-to-date is Grand Seiko. Its price recovery is driven by iconic references like the White Birch SLGH005Snowflake SBGA211 and the Shunbun SBGA413 all recovering. Inventory for watches in the Grand Seiko Market Index is at a two-and-a-half-year low which has powered price appreciation.

The only other brand that can be mentioned in this context is Omega, which is close to being flat thus far in 2025. Every other brand has experienced significant declines, and in many cases the trend of decline does not appear to have slowed, let alone partially reversed. Unsurprisingly, most of the stabilization is attributable to a stable of Speedmaster references, as well as some Seamaster references.

Altogether, 2025 thus far has given us a polarized picture of performance where Rolex and Patek Philippe – and to a lesser extent Cartier, Omega, and Grand Seiko – all appear to have hit the bottom of the market and rebounded to varying degrees this year.

Perhaps not coincidentally, all these brands have also raised retail prices this year, making the secondary market value proposition all the more attractive. At the other end, the same longer term dynamics that have contributed to declining prices for all other brands are still in place.

* 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 are more market insights and analysis on their YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watchcharts

You might also enjoy

Morgan Stanley Swiss Watches 2Q2025: Secondary Market Stabilizes, but Listed Players Underperform

WatchCharts June 2025 Market Update: Light at the End of the Tunnel?

So, You Want to Buy a Rolex? Well, Daddy-O, I’m here to Talk you Out of It!

10 Affordable Alternatives to Iconic Watches including the Rolex Submariner and Omega Moonwatch: The Lightweight Heavyweights!

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *