Inside Rolex certified pre-owned watches’ hefty premiums: less popular timepieces like the Date, Datejust and Air-King have steeper mark-ups – but the highly coveted Daytona remains roughly the same
- Luxury watchmaker Rolex just rolled out its certified pre-owned watch programme in the US after introducing it in Europe last December – and the authentication is worth on average 25 per cent more
- Less popular models like the Date, Datejust and Air-King have much steeper CPO premiums of around 40 per cent, partly due to them selling at or below their retail prices on the secondary market
Last month, Rolex expanded its certified pre-owned (CPO) watch programme from Europe to the US.
The second-hand timepieces come with a new two-year guarantee – and a hefty price premium. Every model except the Daytona is at least 17 per cent more expensive on average when certified by the crown.
The answer? A lot.
Used watches that have the official stamp from Rolex currently command a 25 per cent higher price on average across the portfolio, according to data from WatchCharts, a price-tracking platform for luxury watches.
In other words, the inspection, certification and two-year warranty – not to mention the confidence that it conveys for buyers – is worth a 25 per cent premium over the price they would pay a traditional reseller for a similar watch.
The CPO programme arrived in the US a little over a month ago at select Tourneau Bucherer boutiques, following an initial phase in Europe and WatchCharts estimates several hundred certified watches have been sold.
There are more than 1,100 CPO Rolex listings currently available online, which WatchCharts compared against the average prices for the same models from non-certified sellers to calculate the CPO premium.
