Prices for Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet watches appreciated by an average of 20% a year since mid-2018, outpacing the S&P 500 Index, as values for pre-owned luxury timepieces surged, a new report shows.
The S&P 500 stock index averaged annual returns of 8% from August 2018 to January 2023 while a basket of pre-owned watch models from top Swiss brands grew at more than twice the pace, the report from Boston Consulting Group and secondary market dealer WatchBox said. That’s despite prices of some pre-owned models, including Rolex Daytonas, Patek Nautilus and AP Royal Oaks, declining by as much as a third since the market peaked in the first quarter of 2022.
Prices for a basket of so-called independent brand watches including FP Journe, H. Moser & Cie and De Bethune — a small Swiss producer which is majority owned by WatchBox — returned 15% over the same period. The report touts luxury watches as an alternative asset class to stocks, bonds, art and wine.
Over a longer period, stocks outperformed watches as an investment asset. The S&P 500 had a compound annual growth rate of 12% between 2012 and 2022, while Rolex, Patek and AP watches averaged 7%.
Secondary-market watch price increases accelerated sharply during the pandemic as Millennial and Generation Z consumers, cash-flush and stuck at home, discovered a pricey new hobby collecting Swiss watches. The rise and fall of cryptocurrency values has also correlated with used watch prices.
“Value and transparency are the drivers of the secondary market and that has been a driver of liquidity,” Sarah Willersdorf, a managing director and partner at BCG in New York, said in an interview. — Bloomberg
