Rolex made its usual new year price increase on January 1, but limited the rise to an average of around 2.5%.
Last year, it was Europe and the UK that saw the greatest rises as Rolex and other watch brands attempted to iron out differences between prices between the United States, with its soaring dollar, and the rest of the world.
The dollar has weakened in recent months, so this January’s price rises were lower on the European side of the Atlantic.
In the UK, the price of a no date Oystersteel Submariner increased by £200 (2.7%) from £7,500 to £7,700.
Anybody on a waiting list for a steel Daytona will have to find an additional £350 as the price has risen 2.9% to £12,500.
WATCHPRO has a data hub tracking Rolex prices over time. The highest price among our sample of references was for a 40mm white gold Day-Date, which jumped from £31,450 to £35,000, a rise of 11.3%.
Given the massive price rises on the secondary market for Rolex watches in recent years, rocketing demand and soaring inflation at both factories and retail over the past 12 months, the brand has shown constraint with its increases for new watches.
Take a 41mm DateJust in Oystersteel, for example. The price back in 2020 was £6,300, and the same watch can be bought today for £6,800, a mere 7.9% rise over three years.
Most of the catalogue has above inflation price rises, in the 20% range over three years.
