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The market for used luxury timepieces recorded its best half-year performance since early 2022, providing a bright spot in an otherwise grim landscape for high-end watches.
The Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, which tracks the 50 most-traded timepieces by transaction value, gained 5.3 percent in the first half of 2025 — and extended that recovery in the third quarter. Rolex’s gold Daytona 116508 and Patek Philippe’s Aquanaut 5167A were among the top performers.
The rebound is modest compared with the pandemic-era boom, when housebound consumers, flush with cash, splashed out on fancy timepieces. Still, it comes as new watch sales face US tariffs — including a 39 percent levy on Swiss exports — and stubbornly low demand in Asia.
The secondhand market is also benefiting as record gold prices drive up the cost of new watches and shoppers look to avoid delays that can occur when seeking to buy a new model, according to Christy Davis, founder of London-based Subdial, a watch dealer and trading platform.
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In boutiques, high-demand new models are often tightly allocated, forcing would-be buyers to wait months or longer for delivery, while secondary platforms offer immediate access to a broader range of pieces, said Davis.
The increased prices for Rolex’s gold Daytona come during a boom for bullion amid tariffs and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, while Patek Philippe’s Aquanaut is outperforming the Swiss brand’s hallmark Nautilus sports models, perhaps underscoring a growing trend toward restrained opulence, Davis said.
“There’s definitely something around people looking for more quiet luxury these days, and the Aquanaut is that when compared with the Nautilus.”
The primary watch market, by contrast, is suffering. Swiss watch exports dropped 5.6 percent in June, extending a year-long rout that’s seen declines in shipments to the US, the biggest export market, along with Japan and Hong Kong.
Watchmakers like Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet are also contending with the consequences of a stronger Swiss franc and a broader weakness in luxury demand. Swatch Group AG — whose high-end brands include Omega and Blancpain — reported a 7.1 percent drop in sales in the first half of the year, which it said was “exclusively attributable” to China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Trump’s trade war has exacerbated the pain. Switzerland is reeling from the US imposition of the 39 percent tariff, the highest in the developed world. While that levy has now taken effect, the country is keeping up efforts to negotiate with the US, raising the prospect that it could yet change.
By Tim Loh and Tala Ahmadi
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