INSIGHT Secondary Market Monitor: Recovery Without New Euphoria
The secondary watch market continues to recover. For Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet, price fluctuations remained modest in August 2026. By contrast, there was significantly more activity among individual brands, collections, and price segments.
The WatchCharts Overall Market Index rose 0.4 percent in August 2026. Eighteen of the 28 major brands tracked by WatchCharts ended the month in positive territory.
Rolex rose 0.5 percent, Patek Philippe 0.3 percent, and Audemars Piguet 0.2 percent. There were thus no major fluctuations among the leading brands.
The situation is different for individual brands and collections. At the brand level, Breguet posted the strongest growth of the month, up 1.2 percent. Among the collections, the Omega Constellation, TAG Heuer Formula 1, and Tudor Prince each rose by 4.4 percent.
Breguet Leads the Way in August
At the brand level, Breguet posted the strongest performance of the month with a 1.2 percent increase. At the same time, this figure alone illustrates just how quiet the market currently is: no other major brand tracked by WatchCharts saw a change of more than one percentage point in August.
More pronounced differences are evident at the level of individual collections. The Omega Constellation, TAG Heuer Formula 1, and Tudor Prince each rose by 4.4 percent in August. On the other hand, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous, among others, fell by 1.5 percent, and the Tudor Black Bay by 0.8 percent.
The TAG Heuer Formula 1 really stands out
The most striking trend right now isn’t coming from the highest price segment.
The TAG Heuer Formula 1 has gained 14.8 percent since the start of the year. Six of the first eight months of 2026 were positive. Many of the Formula 1 models included in the WatchCharts index are quartz models and trade on the secondary market for less than $1,200.
After several years of sluggish performance, the trend has thus clearly reversed in 2026.
A renewed sense of interest is likely to play a role here as well. The collaboration with Kith was followed by a reissue of the historic Formula 1 watch as the Solargraph. At the same time, TAG Heuer returned to Formula 1 as the official timekeeper.
The brand as a whole is also performing above average: The TAG Heuer Market Index is up 11.1 percent year-to-date, compared with 9.7 percent for the WatchCharts Overall Market Index.
Even less expensive watches have moving parts
Another interesting observation from WatchCharts is that watches in the $500 to $1,000 price range were the strongest price segment analyzed by WatchCharts over the past twelve months, rising 17 percent as a group.
This does not yet indicate a general trend toward more affordable watches. However, the figures show that the current momentum is not limited exclusively to particularly rare or high-priced models.
Formula 1 is a good example of this: a well-known brand, a clearly positioned collection, and a price point that is significantly lower than the typical secondary-market prices of many major luxury watches.
Chrono24 also sees a broader market
Data from Chrono24 also supports the picture of a more normalized and diversified secondary market.
An analysis of completed transactions from 2018 through the second quarter of 2026 shows that the pandemic-related price premium for Rolex has largely disappeared. The brand’s share of sales volume on Chrono24 fell from about 44 percent in early 2022 to about 31 percent. At the same time, the Rolex price index has risen again by about seven percent over the past twelve months.
At the same time, buyers are spreading their budgets more widely across other brands. Cartier, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin were able to gain market share in various price ranges.
This is consistent with the current trend shown by WatchCharts: The market is not driven by a few extreme price movements, but is showing moderate gains in several areas.
Stabilization Instead of a Wave of Speculation
The August data therefore does not suggest a return to the extreme price fluctuations seen in 2021 and 2022.
The overall market is rising slightly, as are most of the brands under observation. At the same time, certain collections are performing significantly better than average.
It is particularly interesting that this trend is also evident outside the traditional high-end collector’s models. This is not yet evidence of a fundamental shift in the market. However, it is a sign worth watching in the coming months.
This doesn’t necessarily make the secondary market any more spectacular. On the contrary, the latest data from WatchCharts and Chrono24 point to a gradual stabilization and a market that is more broadly distributed than it was during the boom years.
Sources: WatchCharts September 2026 Market Update; WatchCharts August 2026 Market Update; Chrono24 Rolex Report 2026.
