Prices for luxury watches on the secondary market are at their lower point in years, with timepieces from Rolex, Audemars Piquet and Patek Phillipe, Breitling and others falling steadily throughout 2022 and 2023.
Bloomberg’s Subdial Watch Index, which tracks the 50 most traded luxury timepieces on the pre-owned market, is down 6.9% in the past 24 months and 19.2% in the past 12 months.
The index accounts for 20% of global spending and is updated daily using over 140mln data points, making it a comprehensive gauge for sentiment of the alternative investment.
Luxury watch prices peaked in February 2022 – Source: subdial.com
Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Jumbo Ultra Thin model is the worst performer over the past 12 months, falling 34.4% in value from US$111,700 to US$71,700 (£56,400).
Patek Phillipe Nautilus models take up the next three bottom slots, followed by the Rolex Daytona 116506 model.
On the other hand, Rolex models also comprise the 10 top performers, with the Rolex Lady-Datejust Steel & Gold being just one of three watches to add value in the past year, adding 2.6% to US$3,892.
The priciest watch on the index is the Patek Phillipe Nautilus Chronograph Rose Gold 5980/1R-001, valued at US$204,118, 40% below its all-time high of US$342,037.
Luxury watch prices on the secondary market hit record highs in February 2022, due to a groundswell in alternative investment products such as watched and cryptocurrency amid a low interest rate environment and an abundance of Covid-era stimulus cheques.
But the rally was short-lived, with watch and crypto prices tanking throughout 2022 amid a global cost-of-living crisis and hawkish rate rikes from the world’s major central banks.