6 articles with this tag
Price on request shows up on the most expensive watches in the room, and most buyers read it as proof the watch is too rare to price. It almost never means that. A working dealer's read on what POR actually signals, the two very different places you see it, why sellers hide a knowable number, and exactly how to respond as a buyer.
May gave the watch market its first down month of 2026, and most coverage read it as the top. A month later the WatchCharts index has climbed back near its 12-month high. A working dealer's read on why the recovery is real but narrow, what May's pullback actually was, and why the references carrying the index are the ones you overpay to own.
Swiss watch exports fell about 4% over the first four months of 2026, and a distorted April print made it look worse. But the average hides a market splitting in two: the top end and the big three of Rolex, AP, and Patek hold firm while the mid-luxury middle contracts. A working dealer's read on the barbell market, why the April number misleads, and where pre-owned value is quietly widening.
The WatchCharts Overall Market Index fell 1.4% in May 2026 after April's broad recovery, with Rolex's GMT-Master, Daytona, and Yacht-Master leading the pullback and Patek and AP both ending long winning streaks. A working dealer's read on whether May was a pause or a turn, and why the references that ran up fastest are now the ones offering the first real openings.
The secondary market is recovering in 2026, which is exactly when the investment pitch sounds smartest and is most misleading. A working dealer's read on what the public data actually shows: gains concentrated in a few references, decade returns built on survivorship bias, and an ownership cost stack that eats most of what is left.
The May 2026 Geneva auction season combined for $158 million plus across Phillips, Christie's, and Sotheby's. Records set for Rolex Daytona Paul Newman, A. Lange and Sohne, Cartier Crash, and the Patek Philippe 2523 South America. Here is what the trifecta tells us about the pre-owned watch market through the rest of 2026.