Rolex CPO programme doubles sales in first half of 2026
The secondary market for luxury watches increased +37.2% year-on-year (YoY) in the first half (H1) of 2026, reaching $10.5 billion in total sales value.
This is according to market intelligence and collection management platform, EveryWatch, which has published its findings from its proprietary dataset spanning 650 dealers and 472 auction houses.
Although sales growth in luxury watches is often driven by higher prices outstripping reduced quantities, in H1 the number of units sold grew by +18.7% (to 795,000). This pushed the median sale price up by +19.3% to $5,900.
In a surprise to no-one, Rolex dominated the figures in the first half of the year, generating $4.29 billion in sales in the secondary market, representing growth of +43.5% YoY. This $4.29 billion represents a barely believable 41% of the market, based on sales value.
Its Daytona model remained the highest value collection overall, pulling in $962.1 million (+36.7% YoY), with the discontinued ‘Pepsi’ GMT-Master II being the top-performing individual reference with sales of $44 million.
A key driver behind The Crown’s dominance is the increasing influence of its Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) programme, which saw a sales increase of +101.3% YoY to $385.4 million, accounting for approximately 9% of total secondary Rolex sales.
Owning a 14.4% market share is Patek Philippe, who has seen sales growth of +52.4% YoY to $1.51 billion.
Perhaps the star performer in H1 was F.P. Journe, which surged +196.9% YoY to $201.6 million — 608 units sold at a median price of $215,000.
Only three major brands maintained an average secondary market price above retail: Patek Philippe, which had a +75.4% average value retention; Audemars Piguet, which was +35.7% above retail; and Rolex: which had a +6.1% average value retention.
In a similar vein to the primary market, the US is the top performing territory, growing +69/6% YoY to $4.53 billion (including Canada). In contrast, Europe’s growth was just +24.9% YoY (to $4.02 billion), while Asia actually contracted in the secondary market, dropping -2.6% YoY to $1.48 billion against the backdrop of an endlessly limp Chinese market and war across the Middle East.
“Value rose roughly twice as fast as volume, and that gap is what matters. Collectors are moving up-market with conviction, not simply buying more. That’s the signature of a confident Secondary Market,” said Giovanni Prigigallo, co-founder of EveryWatch.
“F.P. Journe’s numbers would be remarkable in any category. Doubling market share on roughly 608 watches, clearing well over half of everything listed, shows demand for serious independent watchmaking has moved from the auction fringe to the centre of the market,” Prigigallo continued.
EveryWatch also does a deep dive of auction house sales, which revealed that total sales at auction in H1 came to $680 million, up +45% YoY. Independent watchmakers secured 4 of the top 10 auction lots overall.
