Pre-owned luxury watches: prices drop or rise depending on brands and segments
During the coronavirus pandemic, the prices of pre-owned luxury watches have skyrocketed. The peak was reached about 2 years ago. Since then, prices have rather fallen. In some segments, they have fallen, while for some watches, on the contrary, their prices continue to increase. Let's take stock of the prices of pre-owned luxury watches in this summer month of 2023.
Luxury pre-owned watch market: recent trends
The Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index fell 1.4% over the past month. It is now down 16% from 2022. The index tracks the 50 best-selling watches on the pre-owned market by revenue. It mainly includes models from Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. According to Bloomberg, three factors are behind the decline in prices of very high-end watches:
- Higher interest rates
- Fragility of economic growth
- Fall in the value of cryptocurrency stocks
The combination of these 3 factors has increased the supply of pre-owned luxury watches and lowered prices after the 2021 surge. Some models have experienced a real disaster. For example, the pre-owned Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time was estimated at over $270,000 in March 2022. Today, they are trading around $125,000.
Some affordable luxury watches, including Omega models and Cartier watches, are much more stable. As prices for the most popular and high-end Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet models continue to drop on the pre-owned market.
Affordable luxury watches continue to rise
Besides Cartier and Omega, some mid-priced watches from brands such as TAG Heuer and Tudor are bucking the trend, according to data from Subdial, a UK-based pre-owned watch seller.
These more entry-level luxury watches have seen their prices increase by 17% in one year . This trend is explained simply. Buyers, more cautious, are looking for cheaper alternatives. Collectors and enthusiasts therefore favor undervalued rare watches and, in some cases, smaller watches .
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Second-hand luxury watches with small dials are all the rage
For example, the Cartier Santos Galbée, much smaller than the average watch with its dial measuring just 28 millimeters, is all the rage. It is a great piece of evidence for the rise in popularity of so-called “neo-vintage” watches in the 1990s .
The watch in the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index that has seen the best price movement over the past 30 days is also a smaller watch. The Rolex Datejust 36 has outperformed all other models made by the largest Swiss watch brand. Its value has increased by about 3.4% in one month. The worst performer is the Rolex Daytona in steel and gold, which has declined by about 7%.
According to a report by Morgan Stanley analysts, prices of pre-owned luxury watches are expected to continue to decline in the third quarter due to high supply. A good time to get a good deal? Who knows!
