The luxury watch market in 2026 continues to show strong momentum, with notable shifts across both new releases and vintage models on the secondary market. In our latest update, we analyse key trends, pricing updates, releases and discontinuations from leading manufacturers including Rolex, Patek Philippe and Cartier. In the continually evolving watch landscape, it is crucial for regular valuations to ensure adequate cover, and in the first half of 2026 this has never been more apparent!
Going for Gold!
Gold is the case material ‘du jour’ for the first half of 2026. Dress watches in 18ct yellow and pink gold, particularly unusual case shapes driven by fashion and gold increases are reaching new heights.
A Cartier London 18ct yellow gold rare and iconic distorted oval ‘Crash’ wristwatch, believed to be one of only three examples made in 1987, accompanied by its original gold deployant buckle, Circa 1987. Sold for approximately £1.48 million, setting a world record. Image credit: Sotheby’s.
A landmark auction that has really shone the spotlight on this collecting trend is Sotheby’s ‘Shapes of Cartier’ sale, comprising a single-owner collection of Cartier watches over three sales from April-June 2026. In this series of significant sales, world records have been set for Cartier dress watches including the Crash, Baignoire, and Tank models, as well as for an early 20th century ‘lighter watch’ by the brand.
Zooming out to the secondary market for vintage watches, early Cartier, Audemars Piguet gold models from 1960s such as the Disco Volante and asymmetric cases, and Jaeger-LeCoultre ‘Ladder’ watches are all examples of timepieces rising in value in the last 6-8 months.
Moving onto the retail market, it is news to no-one that the stratospheric trajectory of gold in 2025 has had an impact on manufacturers costs. As such, it was an inevitability that this would affect unit cost at retail level. In the last couple of months, we have seen two more significant price hikes. Rolex increased its global price of gold watches by 5% at retail this month, following Cartier who increased gold watch prices by 10% in May.
An 18ct yellow gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date wristwatch, Ref. 228238. Image credit: Rolex.
An 18ct yellow gold Cartier Santos Dumont watch, large model, Ref. WGSA0122. Image credit: Cartier.
Steel Sports Watches
As a whole, demand for steel Sports and Tool Watches are generally down as a group as collectors turn to gold dress watches – of course with key exceptions and anomalies.
Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 126719BLRO.
One notable and newsworthy exception was the sharply increased value of Rolex Pepsi’s and Cookie Monsters on the secondary market – whilst correcting at the time of writing this spike is a knock-on from Rolex’s discontinuation of the sought-after red/blue and blue Cerachrom bezels at Watches & Wonders 2026. References affected include the 126710BLRO/126719BLRO and 126619LB.
Complication Reigns Supreme
A Patek Philippe reference 7000R-001,18K rose gold automatic minute-repeating wristwatch, circa 2017. Sold for £178,200. Image credit: Bonhams.
Ultimately, in 2026 value is retained in complication. Bonhams’ Important Watches sale in early June displayed market appetite for complicated, technically brilliant timepieces. Minute repeaters, calendar complications, and horological craftsmanship are in demand on the open market. As Global Head of Watches Jonathan Darracott explained, their most recent results highlighted “the continued strength of global demand for refined watch complications of exceptional quality.”
Re-released Watch models – What this means for Vintage Pieces
2026 has seen the re-release of historic and discontinued models, much to great acclaim. The re-design and reinvention of these much-loved collections has delighted fans of the brand, and will undoubtedly prove fruitful for values of original pieces on the vintage market, shining a spotlight on the desirability of ‘original’ references.
The lineup of re-released Cartier Roadsters. Image Credit: Cartier.
The Cartier Roadster is a notable re-addition to Cartier’s lineup, those clients with pre-discontinuation (2012) Roadsters covered on a SHRV basis may now wish to be covered NRV.
The newly released Tudor Monarch wristwatch, Ref. 2639W1A0U – 26060. Image Credit: Tudor.
Image Credit: Universal Genève.
The Tudor Monarch was re-launched at Watches & Wonders 2026. Offering a ‘time honoured look,’ the 2026 version of the Monarch features a finely faceted case and distinctive applied roman numeral and Arabic hour markers.
The Universal Genève Polerouter was relaunched in April 2026, in eleven variations. Following the acquisition of Universal Genève by Partners Group in 2023, this release has been highly anticipated by fans of vintage and contemporary watches alike. In the month following this re-release, sale prices for the 1950s 18ct gold Cal. 138SS Polerouter jumped over 100% on the secondary market.
Regular Re-Valuations for Watches
As you can see, the watch market is incredibly buoyant – and as such values of watches for insurance (retail replacement) are subject to fluctuations. We would recommend our clients revisit their watch valuations every two years, to ensure that in the event of a loss, they are covered adequately.