Collectors are shifting from hype-driven speculation toward liquidity, authenticity and personal taste.
Global Luxury Market
The second-hand luxury watch market is becoming more sophisticated after several years of intense speculation, price spikes and social-media-driven buying. Leading resale platforms now suggest that collectors are broadening their attention beyond a handful of dominant brands and becoming more cautious about treating watches as short-term investments.
Rolex remains the reference point. On Chrono24, the brand still accounts for roughly 30 percent of transaction volume, although that share has fallen significantly from its 2022 peak. On Bezel, Rolex also leads across customer interest, orders and watches registered in private collections, reflecting the depth and liquidity of its secondary market.
Yet the market is becoming less concentrated. Cartier, Tudor, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre are attracting more attention, while independent watchmakers such as F.P. Journe are benefiting from a younger and increasingly informed collector base. Buyers appear more willing to explore craftsmanship, heritage and design rather than simply follow the most visible luxury names.
One notable shift involves size and style. Smaller cases, more refined dress watches and stronger interest in vintage aesthetics are gaining cultural momentum. Men are increasingly considering watches in the 35 to 39 millimeter range, while pieces such as the Cartier Tank reflect a renewed appetite for classic proportions and distinctive design.
Even so, actual buying behavior remains more conservative than fashion headlines suggest. Most orders still involve relatively recent watches from the 2010s and 2020s, with steel models in familiar colors such as black, blue and silver continuing to dominate. Steel alone represents a large majority of transactions on some platforms.
The market has also delivered a warning about hype. Earlier this year, intense demand surrounded the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop, with resale prices initially reaching many times the retail price. Within months, however, some models were trading below their original store price. The episode illustrated how quickly scarcity narratives can collapse once speculative momentum fades.
Industry executives therefore emphasize liquidity and authenticity rather than prediction. Transaction history, condition, originality, production volume and the strength of the manufacturer matter more than attempts to guess which model will suddenly rise in value. Paying too much simply because a watch appears rare remains one of the most common mistakes made by new collectors.
Authentication is becoming equally important. Bezel rejected 34 percent of watches submitted for sale during the first half of 2026, including pieces with counterfeit components and even a genuine luxury watch that had previously been stolen.
The emerging lesson is less glamorous than the speculative boom that preceded it, but probably more durable. The strongest collections are increasingly defined not by what was fashionable in a single year, but by what their owners genuinely wanted to wear and keep.
Luxury watches may retain financial value, but the market is rediscovering that collecting works best when ownership comes before speculation.