Yes, Luxury Watch Prices Are Dropping, but Still Well Above Average
Patek Philippe ICONSIAM Flagship Boutique / Credit: Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong
As discussed before in our article The Most Popular Watches on Instagram, we love data. We found the four most popular brands that were showcased on Instagram which include Rolex, Omega, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe. We will now dive into the prices of those four brands to get a pulse on the watch market in 2022 – as those four brands made up for nearly 50% off the content we had found on Instagram! We also explore a few other common metrics to get an idea of where we are in the luxury watch market cycle.
Overall Used Watch Market Index
Overall watch market prices 2021-2022 / Credit: Watch Charts
Since August 2021, prices for used watches had increased 54% at its peak, before decreasing by 16% to July 2022 levels. This represents a 30% increase from August 2021 to July 2022.
Rolex
Rolex prices 2021-2022 / Credit: Watch Charts
From August 2021, prices for used Rolex watches had increased 32% at its peak, before decreasing by 11% to July 2022 levels. This is an 18% increase from August 2021 to July 2022, and 12% below the overall watch market index during that period.
Omega
Omega prices 2021-2022 / Credit: Watch Charts
From August 2021, prices for used Omega watches had increased 5% at their peak, before decreasing by 10% to July 2022 levels. This is a 6% decrease from August 2021 to July 2022, and 36% below the overall watch market index during that period.
Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet prices 2021-2022 / Credit: Watch Charts
From August 2021, prices for used Audemars Piguet watches had increased 54% at their peak, before decreasing by 8% to July 2022 levels. This is a 42% increase from August 2021 to July 2022, and 12% above the overall watch market index during that period.
Patek Philippe
Patek Philippe prices 2021-2022 / Credit: Watch Charts
From August 2021, prices for used Patek Philippe watches had increased 68% at their peak, before decreasing by 12% to July 2022 levels. This is a 48% increase from August 2021 to July 2022, and 18% above the overall watch market index during that period.
Luxury Watch Market vs. Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Crypto
Luxury watch prices (bottom left) vs. Dow Jones Industrial Average (top left), S&P 500 (top right), and Crypto (bottom right) August 2020 to June 2022 comparison
From August 2020, the luxury watch market had increased 150% at its peak, before decreasing by 14% to June 2022 levels. This represents a 115% increase from August 2020 to June 2022.
From August 2020, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had increased 32% at its peak, before decreasing by 15% to June 2022 levels. This represents a 12% increase from August 2020 to June 2022.
From August 2020, the S&P 500 had increased 42% at its peak, before decreasing by 15% to June 2022 levels. This represents a 15% increase from August 2020 to June 2022.
From August 2020, the crypto market had increased 678% at its peak, before decreasing 68% to June 2022 levels. This is a 147% increase from August 2020 to June 2022.
The watch market seems to be lagging the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 given it’s a luxury good and more illiquid. The percentage of pull back mirrors those two indexes, however, the period of growth it experienced in the same period before reversing was much larger. Ultimately, the percent gains seem more closely intertwined with crypto (tracking crypto volatility by a factor of 4.5), which is an interesting comparison given the nature of the two different asset classes. One being digitally based and the other being a tangible luxury good.
By: Eric Mulder