Rolex increased the price of its gold watches by an average of 5% this month, adding an unusual second annual increase to its major markets, which include the United States, Hong Kong, and Britain, according to reports.
Despite a generally muted luxury goods market, there remains a robust demand for premium products, as evidenced by the increase, which comes after a somewhat larger increase in January that was neither worldwide nor gold-specific, reported Reuters, citing two luxury research platforms and dealers.
According to Mark Xu, head of marketing at the research platform WatchCharts, other top luxury brands have also upped their pricing. For example, Cartier, which is owned by Richemont, hiked the price of its gold watches by up to 10% last month. Citing rising gold prices and currency fluctuations, Richemont stated in its annual report that it has adopted gradual pricing hikes at its Jewellery Maisons, including Cartier.
The industry saw many price increases last year, which was unusual as well. However, this was due to US import duties, which are currently at 10% for Switzerland, the country with the largest watch industry in the world.
Unexpected Second Price Increase
According to Erik Boneta of Boneta Inc., a US-certified pre-owned watch dealer, the market was taken aback by Rolex's second raise this year: "No one saw it coming."
Despite the fact that more middle-class consumers are no longer spending money on luxury, industry analysts claim that the luxury watch market is still able to sell watches advertised as unique investment items to extremely wealthy clients.
According to WatchCharts, Rolex raised the average cost of its timepieces by 6.2% in January in Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK, and the US.
Price Of Gold Has Soared
Since 2024, the price of gold has nearly doubled to over $4,200 per ounce. According to Zouheir Guedri, founder of the luxury research business Data&Data, gold watches from several brands, including Rolex, Richemont, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton 9LVMH), Swatch, Breitling, and Chopard, are up 4% to 6% on average from a year ago.
He claimed that high-end watchmakers were "encouraging clients toward precious-metal and higher-end references" in an effort to attract the elite who still had money to spare.
The price hikes have been significantly higher for some models. The price of a white gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, which Hollywood actor Paul Newman wore in the 1970s, is $59,100 in the United States, up 14% this year and 33% since 2024.
Premium Exports Have Risen
According to Vontobel experts, Swiss watch exports valued at more than 20,000 Swiss francs ($25,038) had more than doubled from pre-pandemic levels and accounted for more than two-thirds of the industry's overall value of 24.4 billion francs in 2025.
According to the report, this represented an increase from 22% of the total in 2019
Simon Lazarus, head of PR and content at online luxury watch platform Chrono Hunter, believes that demand for Rolex watches will continue to exceed supply. "It comes down to brand desirability," he said. "Rolex has always been the high flyer".
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