Rolex, Patek used watch prices fall to three-year low in 2024

PRICES for the most sought-after used watch models from top Swiss brands Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet fell again in 2024, hitting fresh three-year lows.

The Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, which tracks prices for the 50 most traded models by transaction value, declined nearly 6 per cent last year to its lowest since 2021.

An index of popular Rolex models dropped about 5 per cent during the year, Patek prices fell 4 per cent, and Audemars Piguet prices lost about 7.5 per cent on the used market, according to data from Subdial, a UK-based watch trading platform.

The declines mark the third straight year with lower prices for premium used Swiss watches. The market for pre-owned luxury timepieces soared in 2020 and 2021 to unprecedented levels during the pandemic, before suffering a sharp pullback beginning in April 2022, amid slowing economic growth and higher interest rates.

While the price fall-off for used watches in 2024 was less severe than the declines in 2023 or 2022, the Bloomberg Subdial Index is still down about 13 per cent over two years, with used Rolex prices about 8 per cent lower for the period.

Cartier is the only brand whose individual index has posted gains since January 2023, rising about 4 per cent in two years as collector interest in smaller, shaped jewellery watches gained traction. Subdial’s Cartier index declined less than half a percentage point, while Omega prices fell about 1 per cent in 2024.