Expect another price hike soon for Rolex

With no price increases announced during the 2021 Watches and Wonders announcement, industry experts are predicting an imminent price hike for Rolex watches. Watches of Switzerland Group CFO Anders Romberg, on a conference call with analysts, cited “rising commodity prices, particularly gold, and currency movements of the US dollar and Swiss franc” as reasons for the high probability of a price increase.

The last Rolex price increase came in January of 2020 when a 7.4 percent increase was put into place. So current Rolex owners, hold onto your pieces. With increased demand and secondhand values shooting into unprecedented heights, Rolex fever is at peak levels in the world of watch buyers. Long gone are the days of calling your authorized dealer and getting a relatively tolerable wait list. 

So all your hopes of getting any popular model Rolex seem completely gone in 2021. Will the market ever settle to where people can just buy the top Rolex watches at retail? How does this company manage to dominate the industry with such an iron first? If anyone ever doubted the power of a strong brand, you just need to cite Rolex to prove that person wrong. 

Photo by Monochrome Watches

All this scarcity, premium pricing just adds fuel to the fire when it comes to creating consumer desire. People are happy to settle with any Datejust configuration just to get their hands on a steel Rolex. The ceramic Daytona is regularly sold for around $30K in the secondhand market. Oyster Perpetual models, once pretty attainable at retail, are selling for more than double their original price. 

So where does this leave your average Rolex acificianado who cannot afford to or simply chooses not to pay inflated prices? First of all, cherish, appreciate and wear whatever Rolex watches that are in your current collection. While new watches are, of course, nice to add to a collection, maybe it’s time to double down on wearing and enjoying your current collection. Perhaps try a strap change to freshen up the look and feel. Does one of your watches need servicing? It can be a good time to spend your cash on the services of our community of reputable watchmakers.

But one thing you shouldn’t do is settle for a different watch if you had your heart set on a particular Rolex model. Never settle with any watch purchasing decision. Choose with your heart and most often this leads to long-term happiness. I’m truly happy I made the moves to get into the Submariner I had on my wish list over 8 years ago. I didn’t settle until I tracked down a 14160M example that hit all of my criteria. With watches the key is be ready to pull the trigger when the opportunity arises. In the meanwhile, enjoy the hunt.

To better cherish your current Rolex, add a new strap.