Rolex Waitlists at the End of 2025: A Quick Reality Check

Buying a Rolex sports model at retail was a long shot for most of the past decade, especially if you had little or no purchase history with an authorized dealer. Today, at the end of 2025, that picture looks different. Availability hasn’t swung all the way to “easy,” and some models are as difficult as ever, but there is a clearer split in how hard different references are to get. This is a quick check-in on where things stand now, based on the same mix of long-range data and day-to-day buyer reports that informed our earlier coverage.

The Rolex waitlist picture at the end of 2025

Image Source: Monochrome Watches

Most readers have heard this before, but it’s worth stating simply: Rolex ADs do not run formal, numbered waitlists. They collect names, track interest, and allocate watches according to what makes sense for their business. That usually includes a mix of purchase history, local demand, and their sense of whether a buyer plans to keep or flip the watch. There is no universal “line” you can join.

Even with that caveat, the volume of public reports has become useful. WatchCharts’ work aggregating Reddit’s “AD Wait Time Megathread” gave a clear view of how wait times peaked during the frenzy years and began to shorten in 2023 and 2024. By late 2025, that trend has continued, especially for core steel sport models. The more interesting development is not just that waits are shorter, but that the gap between different models is now very obvious.

What the new data shows — and what Reddit confirms

Image Source: Hodinkee

WatchCharts’ earlier analysis already showed median wait times falling for pieces like the Submariner and Explorer. Looking at recent Reddit entries fills in the texture behind those numbers. Several buyers report picking up a Submariner No-Date in about a week on the U.S. West Coast, with no prior watch purchase history at that dealer, only some jewelry spend. Others describe Explorers arriving in six weeks in Pennsylvania, or being offered as a walk-in purchase in the UK.

Rubber Strap For Rolex Submariner 41mm

In Chicago, a buyer with no Rolex history secured both a Submariner “Starbucks” and a chocolate-dial, Everose Datejust 41 on Jubilee in roughly three weeks for a special occasion. At the other end of the map, a first-time buyer in Los Angeles reports waiting about six months for a white-dial, Roman-numeral Datejust 41 with fluted bezel and Jubilee bracelet. That spread is instructive. Some configurations are now turning over quickly, while others still require patience, even within the same model family.

What hasn’t changed is the way the most coveted references behave. Steel Daytonas, steel Sky-Dwellers, and certain precious-metal Day-Dates and GMTs are still treated very differently by ADs. Many buyers who started asking about these watches in 2023 and 2024 are still waiting. Some stores are open about not adding new names at all for specific references. In other words, the middle of the catalog is where the movement has happened. The top remains largely unchanged.

The new availability hierarchy in late 2025

Image Source: 12&60

By now, availability falls into three broad categories that most buyers will recognize.

The first band is made up of core steel models that are now genuinely attainable for a wider range of buyers. This includes the Submariner and (to a lesser extent) Submariner No-Date, the Explorer 36 and 40, the Air-King, and many smooth-bezel Oyster Perpetual and Datejust configurations. These watches still require an expression of interest and some follow-up, but it is increasingly common to see them delivered in a matter of weeks or a few months, even to people with little or no Rolex purchase history.

The second category is made up of models that are not impossible, but much more variable. The GMT-Master II “Batman” is a good example. Some buyers report being offered the watch within days of expressing interest. Others sit for many months without hearing anything. Certain Datejust and Yacht-Master combinations behave the same way. Dial color, bezel choice, and local demand all play a role here. Two people asking for what seems like “the same watch” can have very different experiences, depending on where they live and what exactly they want.

Image Source: Watch Club

The third category contains the watches that remain extremely constrained. Steel Daytonas are still measured in years, not months, and in some cases are effectively reserved for long-standing clients. Steel Sky-Dwellers, platinum models, and many precious-metal Day-Dates and GMTs follow a similar pattern. For these pieces, there is no sign yet of the easing that buyers have seen lower in the lineup.

Why this shift happened

The main reason for this change is straightforward: demand has cooled from the peak years. During the pandemic and the speculative surge that followed, many Rolex models were trading far above retail on the secondary market. That encouraged flipping, put additional pressure on ADs, and made even standard references feel scarce. As the market corrected through 2023 and stabilized in 2024 and 2025, a lot of that extra heat faded.

With fewer flippers in the mix and more buyers focused on watches they actually want to own, ADs have more flexibility to place core models with a wider range of customers. Rolex’s modest three percent U.S. price increase on May 1, 2025, did not disrupt that balance. On the production side, there is no clear sign that output has meaningfully jumped. The new Bulle facility will not be finished until 2029, and while Rolex has added temporary sites, most observers agree that the changes we are seeing now are demand-driven more than supply-driven.

What this means heading into 2026

Image Source: Monochrome Watches

For someone who wants a straightforward steel Submariner, an Explorer, or similar core models, late 2025 is the most reasonable environment in years. You still need to talk to an AD, be clear about what you want, and accept that it may take a bit of time, but the idea of securing one within a season rather than over several years is now realistic in many markets. The same is true for a lot of non-flashy Datejusts and Oyster Perpetuals.

If your sights are set on a steel Daytona, a steel Sky-Dweller, or a very specific precious-metal configuration, your expectations should be different. Those watches remain tightly controlled, with long waits and fewer opportunities for buyers without a deep history at the store. That is unlikely to change quickly, even if overall demand continues to normalize.

Looking ahead to 2026, the key variables are familiar ones: the broader economy, the health of the secondary market, and the level of interest from new collectors. A strong rebound in hype could lengthen wait times again, especially in that middle band of GMTs and higher-profile Datejusts. If things stay as they are, the pattern we see now is likely to continue: more accessible core steel, inconsistent but possible mid-tier models, and a small group of references that remain difficult for almost everyone.

For now, the takeaway at the end of 2025 is simple. Rolex is still not a brand you can treat like a casual walk-in purchase, but the situation is far better than it was a few years ago. The middle of the catalog has opened up. The hardest pieces have not. And for many buyers, especially those looking at Submariners and Explorers, that alone is a meaningful shift.