Last year, we asked our friends at Chrono24 to dive into their massive data cache to give us a report on the hottest watches of the year. It was a really fun exercise that demonstrated that, while it’s easy to get caught up in the trends and hype, most collectors still fall back to the classics. The secondary market is kept afloat by sturdy, unglamorous watches rather than the flashy pieces that dominate our Instagram feeds. Last year, Chrono24’s data revealed that the top-selling watch model on its platform was the Omega Seamaster, followed closely by the Rolex Datejust. (Expect to see more of those names as we proceed.)
Naturally, I asked Chrono24 to run the numbers again for 2024. What’s most surprising about this year’s data set is how unsurprising it is. (A majority of the categories compare figures from June 1, 2024 to June 1, 2023.) Many of the results from 2023 carried over into this new calendar year. Given that, I’m going to start with the categories that were shaken up. Starting with…
This Year: Cartier Tank Must 2416
Last Year: Girard-Perregaux Laureato 81010-11-431-11A
The GP Laureato, although a handsome and vastly underrated watch, was a stunner from last year’s results. The Cartier Tank Must? Not so much. Cartier has been on a tear this entire decade so it’s no surprise to see that collectors looking for a deal on the secondary market are gravitating towards the Tank Must, the affordable version of Cartier’s flagship model. For folks trying to get in on the Cartier hype, this is the easiest way to do so. The watch’s price jumped 40.31% year-on-year, from $1,867 to $2,620.
The 2416 is probably also buoyed by the massive amount of variations within the reference number. If you are looking for a Tank Must with dials made of mother-of-pearl and lapis, or with a checkered design, it’s all here.
This Year: Swatch x Omega Moonswatch "Mission To Neptune"
The Mission to Neptune’s fall back to earth makes sense. The original version of the “Mission to Neptune” left customers with a blue residue on their wrists, so Omega and Swatch had to stop producing them temporarily. Funnily enough, the defect actually made the watch more desirable because it was suddenly so rare. When I called around to stores stocking the MoonSwatch last summer, the Neptune was the only one consistently out of stock. But as Omega and Swatch remedied the problem and started getting the Neptune’s supply back on track, the model is now far easier to find—and therefore commands less on the secondary market. How much less? Chrono24 reports its price dipped 72.70%, all the way from $1,419 to $410.
This Year: Grand Seiko
Last Year: Swatch
Well this is a welcome surprise! While last year’s Swatch jump was predictable given its massive Omega collaboration, this year’s biggest leap forward goes to the humble Japanese brand. Is this an indicator that mainstream collectors are finally coming around to what diehards have known for years – that Grand Seiko makes some of the prettiest watches in the industry?
3. Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch
2. Rolex Datejust
1. Omega Seamaster
These rankings match the 2023 edition to a T. Splitting off the top-selling watches by model and by dollars spent is critical here. This, I think, is the more interesting result. This tells me that when collectors want to start a collection, they aren’t looking for anything flashy – even a Cartier Tank is a little too zippy for these folks. What the Seamaster and the Datejust have in common is that they are platonic ideals for a watch. If you asked someone to draw a watch from memory, the resulting image would probably look like one of these two top choices.
If I were to hazard an explanation about the Seamaster’s two-year run atop this category, it’s that there are still mega deals to be found on this model. Cruising around Chrono24, you can find handsome versions of the Seamaster in the neighbourhood of $2,000 – it’s much harder to track down a Datejust at that price point.
3. Rolex Daytona
2. Rolex Submariner
1. Rolex Datejust
While the Datejust was elbowed out of the top spot in the previous category, it wouldn’t be denied here. Again, this is a carbon copy of last year’s data. Rolex is still totally dominant when it comes to the watch market. That’s true in both the pre-owned and primary markets: Rolex owns a staggering 30.3% of the market, according to Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult’s annual report on the watch industry. The next biggest brand? Cartier at a relatively meagre 7.54%!
What the Datejust, Submariner, and Daytona have in common is that they’re all titanic watches in this hobby. The looks of these watches define their categories – the Submariner and Daytona are the respective templates for a majority of diving and racing watches.
3. Seiko
2. Omega
1. Rolex
At this point, the results just feel like the Lakers and Celtics trading NBA titles back and forth. Historically, Rolex and Omega have been the two most dominant players in the industry, and Chrono24’s data won’t give you any reason to believe their grip is loosening. I do appreciate seeing Seiko stick around in this top three – the Japanese manufacturer of the world’s best affordable watches is apparently capable of putting up numbers similar to that of the top Swiss makers.
Patek Philippe 5711 “Tiffany” Nautilus, $1.85 Million (2023: The Richard Mille RM 052, $785,680)
The “Tiffany” version of the 5711 is the watch that keeps on giving on the secondary market. Phillips got a massive $6.5 million haul when it put one of these up for sale upon its release. And digital auction houses like Loupe This or marketplaces like Chrono24 have cashed in on the watch’s hype since. This is by far the biggest sale to ever take place on the site, eclipsing last year’s biggest sale by a full million.
Change in volume of transactions and average sale price on Chono24 year-over-year:
This one is for the nerds. Thanks for sticking with me. Chrono24 reports that while the volume of transactions has bumped up 5.12%, the average sale has fallen slightly (5.8%). It’s a revealing set of data to look at in tandem. The much-talked-about infusion of collectors is here (not that a 5% gain is all that extraordinary), and it appears they’re looking for more affordable pieces. That jives with what we know anecdotally: If a lot of new people are coming into the hobby, it makes sense that they would largely be looking for starter watches. An affordable Omega Seamaster, maybe?
