Perfect Rolex replica watches‘ grip on the unofficial second-hand watch market is weakening, according to fresh data from pre-owned platform Chrono24.
In a study that analyses transaction data from 2020 to 2024, the report shows Rolex’s market share peaking at 43.9% in the first quarter of 2022 as secondary market prices surged on the back of flippers trading UK 1:1 Rolex fake watches between themselves and consumers, cash-rich after covid-related lockdowns, went on a spending binge.
By the end of 2024, Rolex’s share of transaction volumes on Chrono24 had dropped to 34.2%.
“As the flagship brand of the industry, Swiss wholesale replica Rolex watches particularly benefited from the luxury watch boom during the pandemic. With reduced spending on travel and other consumer goods, combined with a prolonged period of low interest rates, many turned to luxury watches as an investment. This drove up secondary market prices and further strengthened Rolex’s market position,” suggests Balazs Ferenczi, head of content at Chrono24.
Second-hand Rolex prices rose like a rocket but fell like a knife after the spring of 2022 as speculators were left holding top Rolex copy watches they could not sell at a profit.
This has turned into a more gradual normalisation in prices over the past three years. The supply of high quality Rolex replica watches on the secondary market has increased relentlessly while demand has cooled and waiting lists at authorised dealers have shortened.
A report the secondary market for luxury watches by WatchCharts and Morgan Stanley Research covering the fourth quarter of 2024 concluded that people are spending less time now on waiting lists for popular cheap 2025 fake Rolex watches than three years’ ago.
Median Rolex authorised dealer waiting times for at 105 days for a Rolex Submariner in 2023 and at 180 days for a GMT Master in 2022.
By the end of 2024, the waiting time for a Submariner was down to 60 days and for a GMT Master it is 90 days.
In addition, best replica Rolex watches UK launched a Certified Pre-Owned Programme in the spring of 2023, which has diverted a proportion of second hand sales from the unofficial secondary market to the authorised dealer channel.
Chrono24’s report says Rolex has lost market share during this downturn because, along with Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and Richard Mille, it’s prices had furthest to fall compared to the likes of Omega and Cartier that did not experience the same spike in prices in 2022.
Outside of the big four pre-owned brands, the overwhelming majority of luxury super clone Rolex watches were never trading at over-recommended retail prices on the secondary market, so have performed more consistently over the past three years than Rolex.
“As the market gradually normalised over the past three years, Rolex lost market share disproportionately,” Mr Ferenczi suggests.
Rolex still accounts for over one-third of transaction volumes on Chrono24 with 34.2% of the market. Omega is second with 10%, Patek Philippe third with 6.7%.
Cartier has doubled its market share since 2020 from 2.5% of transaction volumes to 5.2% at the end of 2024.
Morgan Stanley / Watchcharts reports that prices for classic Rolex collections such as the best wholesale replica Rolex Datejust (-1.5%) and Day-Date (-1.6%) watches held up better in 2024 than sportier lines, which had furthest to fall since 2022 and have seen supply on the secondary market increase the most.
1:1 China copy Rolex’s most desirable watches since 2020, Daytonas and GMT-Masters, were both down 1.7% in 2024, while less popular collections such as the Yacht-Master (-2.3%), Sky-Dweller (-2.5%), and Explorer (-3.0%) underperformed.
Chrono24’s study drills down to individual references to find hot spots of faster-rising prices. In general, these examples are relatively low volumes of specific pieces, so only a small contributor to the wider downward trend for Rolex prices.
However, there is a leaning towards most classical Swiss perfect replica Rolex Datejust references watches, which could show a shift in demand from Rolex’s professional collections to its more mainstream, traditional styles.
Currently, 28.8% of all Rolex purchases on Chrono24 are Datejust models. This trend is particularly pronounced among customers aged under-30, where the share of Datejust sales rises to 37%.
Rolex customers are getting younger
The age profile for online Rolex fake watches customers is changing. The traditional image of a retired dentist clipping into a DayDate for a drink in his golf club bar appears to be fading.
It is the under-30s who lust after Rolex the most, with the brand commanding 41.1% market share for this age group.
This percentage gradually decreases with age: Rolex accounts for 36% of transaction volumes among 30 to 39- year-olds and 29.7% among 40 to 49-year-olds. In the 50 to 59 and over 60 age groups, it fell further to 28.6% and 28.5% respectively.
At the same time, older buyers tend to invest in more expensive models. For example, the Rolex Daytona accounts for 17.1% of Rolex purchases among those over 60 – more than double the 8.2% share among Swiss movements Rolex replica watches enthusiasts under 30.
