Waiting list or secondary market: how to acquire a rare watch

A rare reference can be acquired in two ways. From a retailer, at list price, after a wait whose length no one sets and an allocation that follows the seller’s own rules. On the secondary market, straight away, at whatever the watch fetches that day, above or below retail depending on the reference. Between the two sits the manufacturer’s certified pre-owned offer.

Our acquisitions work takes place on the secondary market: we look for the watch, already delivered, that meets your brief, then introduce you to its owner. The allocation of a new watch rests with the retailer and the manufacturer.

How a waiting list works

Rolex does not sell watches on its website: the brand allocates its production to authorised dealers, boutiques and multi-brand jewellers, many of them independent. Its terms of use put it in one sentence: the availability of certain models may be limited.

What is called a waiting list has no common form. According to several secondary-market dealers, each authorised dealer keeps its own list, with no standard procedure and no guaranteed timeline, and decides who is offered a watch on the basis of purchase history and relationship rather than the order in which names were taken. These sources have an interest in describing the wait as long; their account nonetheless matches that of the financial press. In October 2026, Bloomberg reported the case of a buyer whose dealer asked for a purchase history before adding them to any list, while noting that some pieces can be found in store on the day.

None of the sources consulted sets out a manufacturer’s rule. What is known comes from dealers, buyers and the press, and it varies from one boutique to the next.

What waiting costs

Waiting is paid for first in time. The figures published by dealers range from a few months for some references to several years for the most sought-after; in February 2026, one of them put the wait for a much sought-after steel reference at a typical dealer at about two years. These figures cannot be verified, and they vary with the boutique and your relationship with it.

It is also paid for in price, which does not stand still while you wait. Rolex raised its retail prices on 1 January 2026, by up to 10% for gold and two-tone models according to a British dealer, and by less for steel. A manufacturer can also lower its prices: according to WatchCharts, Patek Philippe cut its US retail prices by 8% in early 2026.

The market for new watches as a whole is not growing, however. According to the Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult report cited by Hilco, the value of the primary Swiss watch market fell by 1.7% in 2025, to about 49 billion Swiss francs. Waiting lists have not disappeared as a result: in October 2026, Bloomberg noted that they could still run for years for the most sought-after models. The decline shows across the market as a whole, the wait on a handful of references.

The secondary market: now, at the day’s price

On the secondary market, the watch already exists, and it sits with an owner, a dealer or an auction house. Discontinued references are found nowhere else. The delay becomes that of the search, and the price that of the market.

That price has moved a great deal. According to WatchCharts, cited by the advisory firm Hilco in August 2026, the average resale price of a Rolex went from about $7,185 before the pandemic to about $17,206 in March 2022. Prices fell from late 2022 to a low in late 2024 and early 2025. In February 2026, the WatchCharts overall index was up about 8% over twelve months, and 21 of the 27 tracked brands with an average price above $3,000 had risen over six months. The Bloomberg Subdial index gained 8% in 2025.

Secondary market does not mean above retail. In February 2026, after the January increase, a British dealer noted that many gold and two-tone references were trading at or below retail, while the most sought-after steel models stayed close to retail or above it. The gap is therefore judged reference by reference, on recent comparable sales, and it can change from one quarter to the next.

At auction, a buyer’s premium is added to the hammer price: one major auction house publishes, in its schedule as consulted on 1 November 2026, a rate of 27% for its watch sales, up to a set amount. The price of a watch sold at auction should be read with the premium included.

Certified pre-owned, between the two

One manufacturer has organised its own pre-owned offer. Rolex’s programme vouches for the authenticity of watches at least two years old, sold by the official retailers that have joined it; according to the brand, these watches are authenticated in its workshops, serviced and tested, and carry a new two-year international guarantee.

Their price usually sits between retail and the secondary market, according to one British dealer. This route suits you when the manufacturer’s guarantee matters as much as the reference itself. The choice remains limited to the watches those retailers have taken back: a precise specification, year or dial is more reliably found on the secondary market.

Other manufacturers have their own practices, to be checked house by house.

Choosing a route, reference by reference

The decision comes down to three questions, and the answer changes from one reference to another.

The first concerns the price gap. If the reference trades at or below retail on the secondary market, waiting gains you nothing except a new watch. If it trades well above, waiting has a value, provided you accept that it has no guaranteed end.

The second concerns how precise your brief is. A discontinued reference, a particular year, a dial or a limited edition already delivered is not something to wait for in a boutique: it is sought from its owners.

The third concerns timing. A watch meant for a particular date, an anniversary or a birth, cannot depend on a list whose end no one sets.

In every case, a watch bought on the secondary market is checked before payment: papers whose numbers match the watch, a service history, an archive extract where the manufacturer issues one, and an examination by a watchmaker you appoint. The detail is in our article on buying a pre-owned luxury watch.

Conclusion

A waiting list gives you a new watch at list price, at a date no one guarantees. The secondary market gives you the watch now, at the day’s price, which may be above or below retail. Certified pre-owned offers the manufacturer’s guarantee on a narrower choice. The right route depends on the reference, on the price gap at the time and on when you want the watch.

For a watch you already own and are thinking of selling, see selling a watch.