Rolex's 'Pepsi' and 'Starbucks' outperform despite a halt in the luxury watch index
Prices for the most traded luxury watches were largely unchanged in March as buyers waited for new models to be released this month at a key industry event in Geneva. Values for a pair of well-known Rolex watches and a Patek Philippe moved higher.
The Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, which tracks prices for the 50 most traded luxury watches by value declined about 0.1% to a level of $33,558 last month, according to data compiled by Subdial, a London-based watch dealer and trading platform.
The index has fallen 8.7% in a year and 42% in two years. Higher interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty and weaker economic growth have curbed demand as buyers turn cautious. Prices for the most coveted pre-owned watches from brands including Rolex, Patek and Audemars Piguet soared to unprecedented levels in 2021 and early 2022 amid the pandemic.
Among a handful of outperformers in March, the Rolex GMT Master II with a ceramic blue and red bezel gained 3.2% to trade at $20,935, according to the index. Nicknamed the “Pepsi,” the watch has been among the top performers in the past year amid speculation it might be discontinued, although it remains in the collection.
The Rolex Submariner with a green bezel, black dial and date complication nicknamed the “Starbucks,” gained about 1% in March to trade at $15,259, the data shows.
Meanwhile, the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 with a blue dial, a steel sports model with an integrated bracelet that was one of the so-called ‘hype’ watches during the peak of the market, gained about 1.1% last month to trade at about $98,753.
All of the watch models that gained in value continue to trade well above their retail prices, although they are extremely difficult to buy new at a dealer as demand outstrips supply.
