Rolex Loses Ground in the Luxury Watch Secondary Market

Herz — World Desk · 6 August 2026 at 06:43 · 30s summary · 3 min read

What we know

Rolex's market share on Chrono24—a platform that positions itself as the world's largest digital marketplace for luxury watches—has tumbled from nearly one watch in two to fewer than one in three within four years, according to a study published on August 6, 2026, by German business newspaper Handelsblatt.

Cartier and Omega are the primary winners from this rebalancing. Multiple resellers describe Cartier Tank, Panthère, and Santos models as highly sought after.

Younger buyers are turning to dress watches—refined timepieces in gold or precious metals with leather straps—at the expense of sports models that dominated during the pandemic.

Balazs Ferenczi, brand analyst at Chrono24, observes that this trend also benefits Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, as buyers are diversifying their selections more widely.

Men and women: Different behaviors

37% of female Chrono24 buyers still opt for a Rolex, compared to roughly 30% of male buyers. Among women, more than one Rolex in two traded is either a Datejust or Oyster Perpetual.

Among men, these two models—available in smaller cases—account for 28.3% of all Rolex purchases on the platform.

Exception: The GMT-Master II 'Pepsi'

The Rolex GMT-Master II—a watch with an automatic movement featuring a 24-hour hand indicating an additional time zone, originally designed for transcontinental airline pilots—shows the strongest price appreciation on Chrono24 over one year.

The 'Pepsi' variant, with its bicolor red-and-blue bezel, climbed 24% to reach approximately €23,000. Ferenczi attributes this surge to the ongoing discontinuation of production, which stokes collector demand.

Context: The pandemic effect