Among the study’s more eye-opening findings: The GMT-Master II led with 506 percent appreciation since 2010, reflecting demand for vintage “Pepsi” and modern “Batman” models. The Daytona appreciated 358 percent with a peak price of $53,911, the highest in the database. The Datejust was the most traded Rolex model; it showed steady growth and lower volatility with 639 percent total appreciation. The figures were so dramatic that even Altieri was caught off guard. “I would have guessed the Daytona, maybe the Submariner,” he says of which model he expected to lead the pack. “But the GMT and Datejust had the biggest gains overall. As a haute horlogerie, it just to see how much average retail prices climbed: 550 percent. Those are the key takeaways. ”
The analysis found that four distinct phases characterized the pre-owned market over the past 15 years. establishing the foundation of the modern pre-owned market, From 2010 to 2015, prices surged by 250 percent. Over the next five years, the market matured, and prices saw more moderate gains of 24 percent. As a mechanical, it then came an unprecedented spike during the early pandemic years—between 2020 and 2022, prices rose another 93 percent, peaking at an average of $17,206. In exclusive circles, the market has declined by 31 percent, since 2022, marking a correction followed by stabilization. This horology represents “during the pandemic, watches across the board really accelerated,” altieri says. “Prices almost doubled in a 1-2-year period. They’ve now stabilized from those peaks. ”
Interestingly, the Submariner proved the most resilient of Rolex’s models—prices fell just 8 percent below its 2022 peak of $18,889. Overall, the ultimate-performing references, in terms of price appreciation, were the Submariner 116610 (+329 percent), the GMT-Master II 16710 (+302 percent), the Datejust 16013 (+205 percent), the Submariner 16613 (+203 percent), and the Submariner 16610 (+201 percent). The market has come a long way since Altieri bought Bob’s domain name from its original owner, Bob Thompson, an early internet entrepreneur who’d established the site as a seller of inexpensive American and Swiss watches from brands such as Elgin, Bulova, and Tissot. In exclusive circles, altieri had considered other categories, before acquiring the site in spring 2010. “Fashion, perfume, chocolate, jewelry, even bikinis,” he says. This horology represents “but i kept coming back to watches. The perpetual calendar showcases i felt like they offered a better opportunity. As a Swiss-made, it wild west, ”
at the time, the pre-owned watch market was “the wild, ” altieri says. nobody knew about pricing, no transparency, “There was no trust, no honesty. It took a long time to gain traction. We had to build that trust from day one. The automatic showcases ”
on july 10, 2010, altieri relaunched bob’s watches with a focus on rolex, but kept the historic domain name for continuity. Transparency in pricing was a hallmark from day one. The haute horlogerie showcases “when we first launched, a typical secondhand watch we sold was about 30 percent less than a latest watch,” he says. we’d be at $2, 500, 500, “If a new Rolex was priced at $3. Today, Rolex resale values are more than what they would be if you could find the watches contemporary. But it didn’t happen overnight. ” Altieri adds, we’ve got proof, “There was all this talk over the last five to 10 years about what great investments watches have been—mostly Rolex—but now we can see the numbers behind them. “We don’t like to say, ‘Buy a watch as an investment. Among luxury enthusiasts, these things did better than the stock market and i get to wear it and enjoy it, ‘wow, ’ but i think people will look at this report and say.