Rolex readjusts price of gold watches, but maintains demand from super-rich

Rolex increased the global price of its gold watches by an average of 5% this month, marking a second annual increase - somewhat rare - in its main markets including the UK, Hong Kong and the US, according to two luxury sector research platforms and two retailers.

The increase, which follows a slightly larger increase in January, reflects strong demand for premium products despite a broadly subdued luxury goods market.

Other leading luxury brands have also raised prices, including Richemont-owned Cartier, which raised prices on its gold watches by up to 10% last month, according to Mark Xu, chief marketing officer at research platform WatchCharts.

Richemont said in its annual report that it implemented moderate price increases across its jewelry brands, including Cartier, citing the rise in price of gold and currency fluctuations.

Last year was also unusual due to more than one industry-wide price rise, but this reflected US import tariffs - currently at 10% for Switzerland, home to the world's largest watch industry.

Second price increase surprised
Rolex's second price increase this year surprised the market, said Eric Boneta, a certified pre-owned watch dealer in the US: "No one expected it."

Industry analysts, however, said the luxury watch market is succeeding in selling watches marketed as rare investment pieces to super-rich customers, even as a larger number of middle-class customers have stopped spending on luxury.

Rolex increased the average prices of its watches by 6.2% in January in Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to WatchCharts.

Rolex declined to comment for this story. Richemont did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Gold prices have soared
Gold prices have nearly doubled since 2024, reaching about $4,200 an ounce. Gold watches from some brands belonging to Rolex, Richemont, LVMH, Swatch, Breitling and Chopard saw, on average, a 4% to 6% increase over the previous year, said Zouheir Guedri, founder of luxury research firm Data&Data.

He said that luxury watch manufacturers, seeking to attract the elite who still have money to spare, were "encouraging customers to opt for higher-end and precious metal models."

For some models, the price increases were much greater. A white gold version of Rolex's Cosmograph Daytona, a model worn by Hollywood actor Paul Newman in the 1970s, sells for $59,100 in the US, up 14% this year and 33% since 2024.

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Exports of luxury goods soar
Swiss exports of watches worth more than 20,000 Swiss francs ($25,038) more than doubled from pre-pandemic levels and represented more than two-thirds of the sector's total 2025 value of 24.4 billion francs, according to analysts at Vontobel.

This represented an increase from the 22% share of the total in 2019, the company reported.

Demand for Rolex watches will continue to outstrip supply, predicts Simon Lazarus, director of public relations and content at online luxury watch platform Chrono Hunter.

"It all comes down to the attractiveness of the brand," he said. "Rolex has always been the star of the market."

Source: CNN