Rolex as an investment: hammer prices compared

Selected Rolex references: real hammer prices, returns and a comparison against the S&P 500, MSCI World, Bitcoin and gold.

What does a Rolex return as an investment? This page shows real sale prices for 5 references, the annualised return derived from them, and performance side by side with the major asset classes. It is based on 467 recorded sales from public auction archives.

Auction results, not the dealer market. Covered are hammer prices at international auction houses including the buyer's premium. The far larger share of watch trading happens through dealers and platforms and is not included here — auctions tend to show the better examples. Every dot in the chart is a price actually paid at auction, not an estimate and not an asking price.

Rolex vs. the markets

Real hammer prices for selected references against the S&P 500, MSCI World, Bitcoin and gold. All lines indexed to 100 as of 2024-07-11, logarithmic scale.

Period 2024-07-11 to 2025-05-23. Positions are picked by the number of recorded sales, not by return. Prices are hammer prices including the buyer's premium; seller's commission, taxes and holding costs are not deducted. All references in detail

Data note 1

No freely licensed photo of this reference available

Rolex Submariner 5513 — 1962–1989

179,103 $ last recorded sale · 2026-05-30

70 recorded sales 9 years

1 year -16 %
3 years -38 %-15 % p. a.
since start -26 %-4 % p. a.

70 sales recorded, compiled from public auction archives.

No freely licensed photo of this reference available

Rolex GMT-Master 1675 — 1959–1980

31,193 $ last recorded sale · 2026-05-09

143 recorded sales 17 quarters

1 year -52 %
3 years -42 %-17 % p. a.
since start -28 %-8 % p. a.

143 sales recorded, compiled from public auction archives.

No freely licensed photo of this reference available

Rolex Explorer 1016 — 1963–1989

11,397 $ last recorded sale · 2026-05-30

27 recorded sales 3 years

1 year -0 %
since start +24 %+11 % p. a.

27 sales recorded, compiled from public auction archives.

No freely licensed photo of this reference available

Rolex Daytona 6263/6265 — 1969–1987

82,086 $ last recorded sale · 2026-05-09

161 recorded sales 17 quarters

1 year -19 %
3 years -21 %-8 % p. a.
since start -2 %-0 % p. a.

161 sales recorded, compiled from public auction archives.

No freely licensed photo of this reference available

Rolex Daytona 116520 — 2000–2016

25,400 $ last recorded sale · 2026-06-13

66 recorded sales 9 years

1 year -26 %
3 years -19 %-7 % p. a.
since start -34 %-5 % p. a.

66 sales recorded, compiled from public auction archives.

Data note 1