Rolex retail vs market price: each current model against its list

Every current Rolex has two prices: what the published list asks for a new one, and what pre-owned examples actually sell for. Sometimes the market price is far above the list price. Sometimes it is well below. This post sets the two side by side for current references across the catalog, using our own sold results.

It is a description of prices, not a buying recommendation, and not financial advice.

The two numbers, defined

Retail (list price). The price on a published retail price list. On WristPrices this is the French list price, in local currency and including VAT, from January 2026 lists published by 41watch and cross-checked with Monochrome Watches. Every reference page shows it with that label and date. We never take prices from the brand's own site, and we don't show a list price we can't cite. The full list of current references and their list prices is on our Rolex cost page.

Market price ("worth about"). A recency-weighted median of sold prices, normalised to a pre-owned watch with box and papers, sold privately. It comes from 108,034 sold results across eBay and auction houses. Asking prices never count. The method, and the backtest behind each confidence level, is on our methodology page.

How we compare them

The two numbers are in different currencies, and the list price includes French VAT. So we convert: each list price is turned into US terms at the European Central Bank reference rate for the first business day of its list month, and the worth-about figure is shown as a share above or below it. The "Market vs list" column in every table below shows that figure with the rate date beside it. We print only that share, never a converted list amount.

Two cautions come with it:

• VAT is still inside the list price. Our market figure is a pre-owned price with no sales tax added, so VAT raises only the list side, so a market figure a little below list can come from tax alone. Read only the larger gaps as a real premium or discount.
• Some list prices are ranges. Where the list price depends on dial or bracelet, the column gives two figures, one against the cheapest version on the list and one against the dearest, instead of picking one.

Sports and newer models

These five cover very different watches: a chronograph, a second-time-zone watch, the Oyster Perpetual from the line with the lowest list prices, the Submariner Date and the new Land-Dweller. They are the models most often said to trade above list; the market vs list column shows how far each really does. For a dressier comparison, the Sky-Dweller 336934 in white Rolesor is about 15% to 17% above its France list prices, by dial and bracelet (EUR, VAT included, at the ECB rate of January 2, 2026).

The Land-Dweller is worth a second look. It was launched in 2025, so its earlier twelve-month window holds only its first months of sales. Compare its market vs list figure with its twelve-month change: a reference can sit above list and still be falling from its launch-period prices, or the reverse.

Everyday steel references

For references like these, a small market vs list figure means that buying one at list and selling it pre-owned would land you roughly where you started, before costs. The volatility label says how tightly recent sales cluster, and the sales count on each reference page says how many results stand behind the figure.

Gold and professional references

Three gold references and two steel professional models: the white gold 1908, the white gold Day-Date 40, the white gold Yacht-Master 42, the Sea-Dweller and the D-Blue Deepsea. Putting them together tests whether metal alone sets the gap to list; the column answers it watch by watch.

Where a row shows no twelve-month figure, the reference doesn't yet have enough sales in the earlier of the two twelve-month windows.

Discontinued references: the last list price

When a reference leaves the catalog, its page keeps the last list price we can cite, labelled as the last retail list price with its date. That makes the comparison a historical one: what the watch last cost new against what it sells for now.

Our catalog records both as discontinued in 2026, the Pepsi as reported rather than confirmed by Rolex. Converted the same way, the steel Pepsi is about 75% to 78% above its France list prices, by dial and bracelet (EUR, VAT included, at the ECB rate of January 2, 2026). The white gold Submariner Date 126619LB is about 39% below its France list price (EUR, VAT included, at the ECB rate of January 2, 2026). Retirement fixes the list price, so from here on only the market side of that gap can move.

How the gap moves during a year

Both sides of the comparison move. The market price updates with every data export. The list price changes when the brand changes its price list, and in 2026 that happened twice for some metals:

• Monochrome's coverage of the January 2026 French list reported modest increases for steel and larger ones for gold.
• Luxury Bazaar reported a second increase on 1 June 2026 for gold and two-tone models, not for steel, platinum, titanium or white Rolesor.

When the list price of a gold model rises and its market price doesn't, the gap below list widens without any change in the used market. Our reference pages show the list price with its date so you can tell which number moved.

For outside context on the premium question, Time+Tide's summary of the February 2026 Morgan Stanley and WatchCharts report placed Rolex among the brands still trading above retail on the secondary market as a whole. Our reference-level data shows how uneven that is from one model to the next.

How to use this when buying or selling

The short version

Market and list prices differ by reference, and the gap can run either way. Convert the list price before comparing, remember that a French list includes VAT, and read the gap next to the twelve-month change and the volatility label. Check the exact reference page for the numbers behind any one watch, and our Rolex cost page for every list price in one place.