(Data: WatchCharts)
Rolex supply on the secondary market continues to swell following Watches and Wonders and has reached levels reminiscent of the 2022 speculative bubble burst.
Reliable data on secondary-market prices are hard to come by, as buyers and sellers often negotiate prices privately. But the number of watches offered for sale can serve as an early indicator of market conditions. Rising supply on the secondary market could signal downward pressure on future prices.
As previously reported on Coronet, new Pepsi listings hit an all-time high in the seven days following the discontinuation announcement, as sellers rushed to capitalize on the news. But the sudden surge in supply is now having the opposite effect, pushing Pepsi prices lower. WatchCharts said the GMT-Master has become the worst performing model when comparing prices from April to May. So far, this trend has also continued into June.
Among the Rolex models tracked by WatchCharts, the number of new listings on watch marketplaces reached record highs in April and May, while overall supply kept swelling. That marks a departure from the trend since the 2022 market correction when inventory had generally been declining. “This suggests a sell-off of inventory that was likely purchased speculatively, similar to what we saw during the watch market bubble in the early 2020s, albeit on a much smaller scale,” WatchCharts said.
The increase in supply could put downward pressure on prices, though price movements often lag changes in supply and demand. In 2022, while demand had already weakened by February, prices did not begin to decline until April. In other Rolex news, the brand implemented a round of retail price increases on June 1st for gold pieces, further widening the gap between retail and secondary prices since last month. Retail prices for gold models increase by an average of 5.0%, while two-tone models increased by an average of 2.5%. Stainless steel, platinum, and titanium models were unaffected.