7 tips to retain the value of your Rolex watch
I know what you are thinking, ‘Rolex watches always retain their value’, and that statement is indeed true, but are there things that could reduce the value of your watch? Yes and here are seven tips to help you retain the value.
Tip 1: Wear your watch frequently
Now, this might come as a surprise but not wearing your watch can affect the movement over time. Think of it like a car sitting on your driveway for 2 months. On the outside, it will look fine but under the bonnet, the lack of mobility will inevitably lead to parts seizing up or failing. We would recommend cycling your watch collection to ensure all your watches get plenty of wrist time to keep the movement active.
Tip 2: Condition is key
While wearing your watch as much as possible is always good, it is always worth trying to avoid potential hazards which could potentially scratch, dent, or break components of your watch. The most common areas for these occurrences are the sapphire crystal face, the side of the lugs, and the clasp. These areas of your watch are normally close to table edges, door handles, and sometimes concrete floors. And while it is not the end of the world if you do scratch your watch, it will cost up to £200 to get it polished and back to looking new again.
We would recommend keeping one of our Clam Single Watch Travel Cases with you just in case you are doing anything that might cause you to damage your watch or if you need to secure your watch while in storage.
Tip 3: Keep everything that came with the watch
This might seem like an obvious tip, but you will be surprised at how many people throw away the box, receipt, and even the paperwork for the watch. But if a secondary market dealer was to tell you that the box, papers, and purchase receipt could be worth 10-20% of the value of the watch, you would defiantly think differently!
This is why we would recommend you keep hold of everything that comes with your watch which would normally consist of:
- The Watch (Obviously)
- Green Presentation Box (with cushion)
- Cream outer Box
- White sleeve with sticker
- White hangtag
- Green certified tag
- All links (If any are removed from the watch)
- Bezel protector (Sometimes these are excluded)
- Rolex manual
- The warranty card with the Rolex green wallet
- Original Purchase Receipt
Tip 4: Keep it original
Another tip that might be obvious to the seasoned collector but keeping your watch original is vital to value retention.
When we say ‘original’ a secondary market dealer would say ‘factory’. This would mean that all parts of the watch including the bracelet, dial, and hands remain with the watch even if it goes in for a service. Rolex has been known to replace dials, bezel inserts, and original bracelets on vintage models when they come in for a service. While it is nice to have something new and, in most cases, improved on your watch after a service, collectors go mad for original parts even if they are heavily worn.
So, if the watch does go in for a service, be sure to keep all original parts for your watch. This will increase the value by a possible 30% on certain models.
Tip 5: Stay away from aftermarket
Very similar to tip number 4, we would recommend staying clear of anything that is considered aftermarket. This includes adding gems to the watch by drilling holes into the metal itself. Other things we would recommend staying clear from are after-market bezels or dials. While these are not permanent, they are unnecessary and will require you to keep hold of the original parts later.
Tip 6: Beware of water damage
One of the costliest repairs for any Rolex watch is the frequent mistake to not screw the crown down properly before entering the water. I have unfortunately seen many watches that have had water creep into the movement and to put it simply, water and oil do not mix at all. This will lead to an extensive repair cost of around 7-10% of the value of the watch.
Tip 7: Don’t over-polish your watch!
As mentioned in tip number 2, a professional polish can cost between £100-£200 (depending on the metal), and frequent polish can create a domed mirror effect instead of a flat mirror effect. This is one of the few ways you can tell a watch has been over-polished or not polished correctly.
Another unfortunate outcome of amateur polishing is rounding the edges of the lugs. Some secondary market dealers would refer to the watch as being ‘sharp’. This generally means that the edges of the watch are sharp and have either not been polished or had a professional polish.
It’s hard to say if polishing affects the value as some buyers like their watch looking new, however, depending on the model and age, we would advise asking a second opinion before polishing your watch.
In conclusion
The general rule of thumb is to enjoy your watch but be mindful that keeping it in great condition will help you reduce any potential costs later on. After all, no one likes unexpected services or costly repair bills so by following these 7 tips you should be able to keep your watch in top condition for yourself to enjoy or move on to the next potential owner.
Are we witnessing a Rolex Market Crash in 2023?
You might be reading this article thinking, ‘Rolex crashing? This is just a wild conspiracy that has never happened before and surely won’t be happening now!’...
To be honest I was the same as you. I thought the watch giant that had the largest share of the luxury watch market can’t be stopped with its amazing marketing model of restricting the supply of certain models and placing individuals like myself on a list that had no guarantee of being offered the watch at no certain time.
However, in the past 6 months, we have been noticing a huge wave of prospecting Rolex owners that have been allocated new watches at retail, simply not coming forward to pick them up.
What is causing this to happen?
Firstly, we are in a cost-of-living crisis where fuel and food are at record highs which is placing people in uncertain positions to keep cash on hand in case things get worse.
Secondly, watch prices are going up in record percentages. This includes all the big swiss watch brands including Patek Phillipe, AP, and Omega. We also saw multiple increases in the same year from Rolex. In the year 2022, we saw a 7% increase in January followed by a further 5% increase in September.
Thirdly the ability to flip/sell watches for silly profits is getting harder. Many people enter the game to buy and flip a watch for a quick buck. Now the profits are getting smaller as some smaller secondary market dealers are carrying too much inventory and are finding it hard to move less desirable pieces at a premium price.
Lastly, the availability of some models Is increasing after the opening and restarting of production at the Rolex factories in Switzerland. Accompanying this news is the story from WatchPro of a new Rolex factory opening in the near future. This would suggest that one extra factory joining the current three in operation would boost production by approximately 25%.
Now, arguably most of these watches that are being left in the hands of the authorized dealer are models such as the Date just 31, and 36. This is understandable as these are not the hottest watches to pick up.
Who else is affected?
If we look at Rolex’s younger brother Tudor who also has a few desirable pieces such as the Black Bay Chrono Panda & Reverse Panda, these once hot models were being sold £1,000 over retail and are now being placed into the window as the first come first purchase.
Typically, the authorized dealer’s way of keeping the flames alive for these desirable models would be to keep them out of sight and offer them to clients who might enquire. With these models being placed into the window, we can hazard a guess and say that they are struggling to shift them to new and prospecting owners.
Moving back to Rolex, and while we are not seeing Daytona’s, GMT’s, or Submariners popping into the front window displays we are noticing that the grey market dealers are offering less and less return on these models. With a 2021 Root beer, GMT in mint / unworn condition being offered at £14,500 (December 2022) Previously in February 2022 these watches were fetching close to £21,000 to a dealer and £25,000 on the open market.
Can we call this a correction or a crash?
Well, we would deem a ‘correction’ a mere 20% reduction from the highs we saw in early 2022. However, we are currently working on an average drop of around 30-40% across the professional sports range with a slightly lower drop on the classic watches. With this in mind, we would be inclined to label this occurrence as a market crash.
So what does this mean for Rolex watch owners right now?
Well, it depends if you are a retail buyer or a resell buyer. For all those buying at retail, you are still quids in and the likely hood of watches dipping below retail on the secondary is unlikely.
If you are a resell buyer who has paid anything above retail, we recommend keeping hold of the watch and enjoying it for what It is worth. Yeah, you might have spent too much but if you were willing to pay £45,000 for a Daytona, you probably wanted it bad!
With this all being said, can this situation get worse?
While it is hard to say, we would say it will probably get worse before it gets better.
With a 12–18-month recession on our hands, we can expect people to be more careful with their money, this would probably mean that collectors be more selective around the models they want and possibly let some models go from their current collection.
We would predict that this would bring the market down to a level we say back in 2018 with demand for certain models such as the Daytona being high but other sports models which were made from steel and gold (Bimetal) or solid gold to be placed in the windows of authorized dealers.