Rolex Certified Pre-Owned Sales Surpass Unworn Gray Market Transactions

Secondary market watch sales for the first half of 2026 totalled $10.5 billion, a 37.2% rise over the same six months of 2025, according to a fresh report from EveryWatch . Within that total, $4.3 billion was made from Rolex watches, and this breaks down between $385 million from Rolex CPO sales, a rise of 101%, and sales (new and used) through unofficial channels of $3.9 billion. Rolex CPO sales account for 11.1% of the value for all secondary market sales for Rolex, flat on 2025. EveryWatch suggests sales of Rolex CPO have surpassed gray market sales of new and unworn Rolex watches, which was worth $335 million in the first half of 2026, a drop of 25%, year-on-year. The average price paid for any Rolex watch sold on the secondary market was $13,300 in H1 2026. New and RCPO watches sell for considerably more. All watches accepted into the Rolex CPO program have to be at least two years’ old, which may explain why average transaction price of $16,800 is lower than the average $19,200 paid for brand new watches on the grey market. This makes a compelling case that RCPO retailers offer better value than may be assumed. Like-for-like (same reference, age and condition), RCPO watches are 22.6% more expensive than in the unregulated market, according to Morgan Stanley/WatchCharts. This premium is around 50% lower than during the first year of RCPO, when prices were routinely over 40

Rolex doesn’t tend to do dramatic reinvention for the sake of it. Or, indeed, at all. But 2026 is a little different. This year marks a century since the arrival of the waterproof Oyster case, and the Crown has responded with a special anniversary Oyster Perpetual, the return of the Yacht-Master II, a genuinely unusual Daytona, and some of its boldest new dials in years. Here are five of our favorites. It makes sense to start with the birthday watch. Rolex is celebrating 100 years of the Oyster with a special Rolesor Oyster Perpetual 41, combining an Oystersteel case and bracelet with a yellow-gold bezel and crown. The slate-gray sunray dial gets green Rolex branding and green hour plots, while gold-colored hands and markers tie everything together. The really nerdy detail, though, is at six o’clock, where the usual wording has been replaced by a “100 years” inscription. Inside is Rolex’s automatic calibre 3230, offering around 70 hours of power reserve, while the case remains water-resistant to 100 meters. It’s still unmistakably an Oyster Perpetual, just one with a very good excuse to dress up. The Yacht-Master II is back—and Rolex hasn’t simply dug the old one out of storage. The 44mm regatta chronograph has been substantially redesigned, with a cleaner case and a new white dial paired with the familiar blue Cerachrom bezel. The biggest visual change is the removal of the hu

Come on, be honest. You’ve missed the sight of a Roger Federer backhand in full flow MUCH more than you realized, right? Same! The air, the grace, the rhythm, the flight, the levitation, the whip—all make me forget the world for a second in a moment of admiration, the kind of awe more commonly experienced at your own wedding or at the birth of your first kid. This week, Federer is celebrating being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in style, by returning to Arthur Ashe Stadium as part of a Legends Series ahead of the US Open in Flushing Meadows. Whipping up his signature moves against old foe Andy Roddick , other tennis greats like John McEnroe and Andre Agassi were rolled out in front of a very entertained, very packed stadium. And while we're practicing full honesty, any sight of Fed still tends to do weird things to people—such is his aura. Sometimes it’s an appreciation of his Wimbledon fit , and his wrist is one that watch spotters always have on red alert. And this week, they’ll be happy customers because nearly five months after Rolex released its new watches for 2026, we finally get to see one on the ultimate watch-wearer. Last year, we were spoiled when he teased the brand-new Land-Dweller ahead of its official release . The new Oyster Perpetual with a “Jubilee” dial is one of the most out there Rolex has dropped in a while. The monogrammed and infini