Rolex Price Guide

Rolex watches typically sell between $2,000 - $176,000 on the secondary market, with a median asking price of $12,135. This makes Rolex the 7th most expensive brand out of 64 Swiss brands in our database, and the 10th most expensive out of all 337 brands in our database.

The following table shows the prices for some popular models across the Rolex collection.

Collection	Reference number	Market Price
Datejust	126334	$12,836
Submariner	16610	$8,877
GMT-Master	16710	$12,068
Daytona	116500	$27,274
Oyster Perpetual	124300	$8,718
Day-Date	18038	$15,730
Yacht-Master	16622	$8,659
Sea-Dweller	16600	$8,730
Explorer	214270	$7,130
Explorer II	16570	$7,499
Sky-Dweller	326934	$18,978
Air-King	116900	$7,061
Date	1500	$3,406
Milgauss	116400GV	$10,443
Cellini	6623	$2,878
Pearlmaster	80318	$13,901
1908	52508	$25,025

We found 316,738 listings for Rolex watches in the past 12 months. This makes Rolex the 1st most popular brand out of 64 Swiss brands in our database, and the 1st most popular out of all 337 brands.

The following table shows the price range and popularity of all Rolex collections.

Collection	Listings (Past 12M)	Price Range
Datejust	101,509	$2,000 - $49,000
Submariner	41,659	$8,000 - $131,000
GMT-Master	31,450	$11,000 - $125,000
Daytona	29,850	$6,000 - $176,000
Oyster Perpetual	20,247	$2,000 - $10,000
Day-Date	13,765	$9,000 - $115,000
Yacht-Master	13,632	$5,000 - $38,000
Sea-Dweller	11,738	$9,000 - $43,000
Explorer	10,867	$5,000 - $15,000
Explorer II	10,217	$8,000 - $26,000
Sky-Dweller	7,716	$18,000 - $62,000
Air-King	7,401	$3,000 - $9,000
Date	6,736	$2,000 - $9,000
Milgauss	3,886	$9,000 - $25,000
Cellini	1,706	$3,000 - $24,000
Pearlmaster	419	$14,000 - $60,000
1908	110	$25,000 - $26,000

If you're looking for the best price, we recommend private sales platforms as the best places to buy and sell your watches online. The following table shows the most popular forums to buy and sell Rolex watches.

Rolex was founded in 1905 as Wilsdorf & Davis (W&D) by entrepreneur Hans Wilsdorf and brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, England. The company relocated to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1919 and was registered as Montres Rolex S.A. in 1920. Originally intent on distributing timepieces, Rolex has grown over the years to become an influential watch manufacturer with myriad achievements under its belt. Presently, Rolex prospers as one of the most renowned watch brands in the world.

An Eye for Revolution

In the early days of W&D, founder Wilsdorf foresaw the relevance of wristwatches and sought to make them both elegant and reliable. In pursuit of this, the company imported small Aegler movements from Bienne and fitted them into outsourced watch cases. These timepieces were then distributed to numerous jewellers who branded the watch dials with their own names.

Bringing Precision to the Wrist

It was not until 1908 that W&D registered “Rolex” – a word conceived by Wilsdorf that was intended to be easily pronounceable in any language – as its trademark. With this new identity, the company set out to raise the bar for wristwatch precision. In 1910, a Rolex watch attained the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision from the Official Watch Rating Centre in Bienne; the first wristwatch to do so. Just four years later, a Rolex wristwatch was awarded a Class “A” precision certificate by the Kew Observatory in England, adding to the company’s résumé an accolade hitherto exclusive to marine chronometers.

Pushing the Envelope

With precision only part of the picture, Rolex also strove to improve the build of wristwatches. In 1926, the company unveiled the first water-resistant wristwatch – made possible by a hermetically sealed case – in the form of the Rolex Oyster; the watch’s performance was famously validated when worn around the neck of British swimmer Mercedes Gleitze during her vindication swim across the English Channel in 1927.

Rolex later earned its place among the pioneers of self-winding watches by introducing the Perpetual rotor in 1931, which not only provided convenience but also facilitated water-resistance by reducing the need to unscrew the crown for manual winding; an action that allowed the ingress of foreign particles into the watch case. The company would continue to prove its innovative capacity time and again with developments such as proprietary hairspring, escapement and shock-absorption systems among others, culminating in over 500 filed patents.

Originating Icons

Few brands can lay claim to as many iconic watches as Rolex. These timepieces often made their name through prominent connections to various disciplines. Such examples include the GMT-Master that was developed for Pan Am aviators to enable tracking of multiple time zones, the Explorer that descended from the Oyster Perpetual watches involved in early Mount Everest expeditions, the Milgauss with antimagnetic properties fit for the scientific sector, and the Submariner that was the first diving watch capable of withstanding a depth of 100 metres.

Value Proposition

Rolex is a luxury watch manufacturer with retail prices ranging from $5,200 for the Oystersteel Oyster Perpetual 28 ref. 276200 to $131,000 for the platinum and diamond Day-Date 40 ref. 228396TBR. In contrast to most other brands, new Rolex watches are often priced higher on the grey market at 5-109% above retail such as for the Datejust and Submariner. However, discounts can still be found on the grey market at approximately 5-19% off retail price for pieces like the Cellini Dual Time ref. 50529.

Pre-owned modern Rolex pieces start at $2,400 for the Oyster Perpetual Ladies ref. 76080 whereas vintage pieces start at $910 for the Precision ref. 2611. Pieces previously owned by notable figures have fetched up to $17.8 million in auction as in the case of actor Paul Newman’s Cosmograph Daytona. With unrivalled brand recognition and high demand, Rolex timepieces generally retain their value well and in select instances, can appreciate substantially and prove to be lucrative investments.

Boasting expert testimonials and noteworthy appearances in critically acclaimed films, Rolex has become as much a cultural phenomenon as it is a producer of quality timekeepers. As a result, the brand is frequently perceived as a symbol of wealth and status and can command irrational prices. Moreover, the overwhelming popularity of Rolex has rendered it among the most counterfeited watch brands in the world. Notwithstanding, there is no denying the outstanding workmanship and illustrious history that Rolex possesses as a true watch manufacturer. Whether to grace black tie events or to scale treacherous mountains, Rolex will indubitably make the ideal companion.