The good news is that from a buyer’s perspective, the value proposition of the pre-owned watch market is stronger today than at any point in the past five years. Furthermore, the rate of secondary price decline has been gradually slowing over the past three years, suggesting that buyers today have likely missed the worst of the market downturn.
Today, secondary prices for many brands sit are at 4-year lows, while retail prices climb ever-higher – particularly due to the impact of tariffs in the US. As the gap between retail and market widens, the secondary market now offers some of the best deals seen this decade.
The good news is that if you’re in the market for a pre-owned watch from a manufacturer that’s not Rolex, Patek, or AP, you’re probably getting a better deal today than at any point in the past five years.
Watches prices on the secondary market have continued to decrease in 1Q with private players performing better than the listed names. Overall secondary demand remains resilient, but pricing power of the listed groups may be eroding.
Out of the Big Three, Patek Philippe prices fell the most in both the past month and past year. Audemars Piguet prices were effectively flat in February, and Rolex prices rose very slightly.
January 2025 saw straight declines across the board for the WatchCharts Overall Market Index which fell by -0.9%, as well as for the Rolex (-0.8%), Patek Philippe (-0.9%), and Audemars Piguet (-0.5%) indexes. These declines are comparable to what we observed a year ago in February 2024 and two years ago in February 2023.
The good news is that prices have fallen less in 2024 than they did in 2023 or 2022.We probably haven’t seen the secondary market represent this much value-for-money since before COVID.
With the Overall Market Index now at a two-and-a-half year low, the broad-based nature of the declines across the market continues: Rolex prices are now also at a 30-month low, while Patek Philippe has hit a 26-month low, and Audemars Piguet is at a 27-month low.
The WatchCharts Overall Market Index saw a positive trend in September, rising 0.8% compared to the previous month. The last time we reported a positive trend was for the month of December 2023, when the market likely saw a boost due to the holiday season.
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.