A Look At Rolex Price Increases For 2024 — A 12-Month Comparison
Happy New Year, and welcome to 2024! With the new year barely started and the hangover only just conquered, it’s back to everyday reality. Almost every January, watch brands take the opportunity to update their prices. We’re starting this year with a look at the price increases at Rolex. As it is the biggest brand, many buyers will have to pay more for their targeted timepiece this year. This article looks at some of the most popular models to see how their retail prices have developed over the last 12 months.
Price increases in the world of luxury watches are a fact of life. Every year, we see one or multiple updates in pricing for most brands. Most brands will raise their prices several times in 12 months, much to the displeasure of many watch fans. As a result, pricing is a much-debated topic in the comments section of quite a few articles here on Fratello. However, as disappointing as rising prices can be, analyzing their development from year to year can help us make better-informed buying decisions. In this first of probably many articles on price increases in the upcoming year, we look at the most popular models from Rolex.
Comparing this year’s and last year’s prices, plus a disclaimer about VAT
This article will be a straightforward look at the retail prices on January 1st, 2023, versus the current retail prices on January 1st, 2024. Some models, however, either debuted or saw updates in 2023. For those watches, we’ll also compare the “launch prices” with the current ones. As a disclaimer, most of you know that VAT percentages vary slightly among European countries. Consequently, prices could be slightly different where you are (especially if you’re outside the EU). We have taken prices with 20% VAT from last year and this year to develop an overview. This will give you an overall idea of how much Rolex has increased the prices of its watches. We’ll also link to each mentioned reference on the Rolex website, which should allow you to see the current price where you live. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
Let’s kick things off with the Rolex Daytona. The Crown’s iconic chronograph was updated in 2023, so comparing prices from 12 months ago would not mean comparing the same models. Last January, the previous-generation stainless steel ref. 116550LN was available for €14,650. When the new model was introduced at Watches and Wonders, the price was €14,950. The new price for a steel Daytona ref. 126500LN is €15,700. As a result, you will pay 7% more compared to 12 months ago and 5% more compared to when the new Daytona debuted.
If we look at some other models, the two-tone Rolesor Daytona ref. 126503 was €19,350 at the introduction and is now €20,500. Furthermore, the yellow gold Daytona ref. 126508 had a price tag of €39,100 at introduction and will currently set you back €41,100. Both of the increases stay within the 5–6% range.
A fun detail is that Rolex originally communicated the price of the platinum Daytona ref. 126506 as “available on request.” After the brand updated its website, the €77,700 list price became visible and went up to €79,200 in 2024. The same goes for the stunning white gold Daytona 24 Hours of Le Mans ref. 126529LN, although we know that its price jumped up from €51,300 just a couple of days ago to €53,400, which is a 4% increase.
Image: The Watch Club
Rolex Submariner
Let’s move on to the price increases for the Submariner. We’ll start with the stainless steel Submariner ref. 124060, which kicked off last year at €9,050. The new price of the iconic diver is set at €9,500, which is a 5% increase.
The Submariner Date ref. 126610LN started 2023 with a price of €10,200 and is now €10,700. If you want the ref. 126610LV with the green bezel insert, the price was €10,700 and is now €11,200. Both are increases within 5%. The Rolesor variations, ref. 126613LB and 126613LN, were €15,500 at the start of 2023 and will set you back €16,350 as of this year. That is an increase of 5.4%.
Moving on to the full precious metal variations of the Submariner, we see a similar trend. The yellow gold ref. 126618LN and 126618LB models saw a price increase from €38,600 to €40,400. Lastly, the beautiful white gold ref. 126619LB — a personal favorite — was €41,600 when 2023 started and is now €43,500. Both increases are between 4.5 and 5%, in line with the Daytona increases.
Rolex Day-Date 36 and 40
Moving on to the Day-Date, if you wanted a 40mm yellow gold ref. 228238 a year ago, you would have paid €38,200. The new price has been set at €40,100, which is an increase of 5%. The smaller 36mm Day-Date ref. 128238 — the one I would pick — went up from €34,700 in January of last year to €36,500 in 2024. If you prefer your Day Date 40 in Everose or white gold (ref. 228235 and 228239, respectively), you must pay €43,200 now compared to €41,100 at this time last year. These updated prices also translate to an increase of roughly 5%.
Image: The Watch Club
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 and 41
Now we move from the brand’s majestic precious-metal-only Day-Date to the entry-level Oyster Perpetual. Looking at the prices of the 36mm and 41mm variants, we see smaller increases than for most other models. The Oyster Perpetual ref. 126000 started 2023 with a list price of €6,050, and its current price is €6,300. It’s 41mm bigger brother, ref. 124300, went from €6,350 to €6,600. Both saw a price increase of around 4% less than most other models. That said, comparatively, prices for the Oyster Perpetual increased more significantly from 2022 to 2023.
Rolex GMT-Master II
Let’s move on to the GMT-Master II. This popular traveler’s watch comes in a string of different variations. As with the previous models, we’ll look at some of the most relevant versions and their price updates. Let’s start with the “Pepsi” and “Batgirl” variants of the GMT-Master II on a Jubilee bracelet, ref. 126710BLRO/BLNR. Twelve months ago, the list price was €10,800, which has now been updated to €11,350. The much-debated Destro “Sprite” ref. 126720VTNR saw a price increase from €11,100 to €11,850. Compared to the 5% for the “Pepsi” and “Batgirl” variants, the increase for the “Sprite” is a notable 6.7%.
How about the wonderful two-tone Rolesor GMT-Master II ref. 126713GRNR, which was introduced during Watches and Wonders? Its communicated list price back then was €16,450 and has now gone up to €17,350, which equals an increase of 5.4%. The Rolesor “Root Beer” ref. 126711CHNR on the Oyster bracelet went up in price from €16,000 in January 2023 to €17,000 a year later. That is an increase of 6.25%
Ref. 126718GRNR, the stunning full-gold GMT-Master II with the black and gray bezel insert that came out last year, saw its price increase from €38,800 to €40,400 in 2024, an increase of 4.1%.
Rolex Explorer and Explorer II
The popular Rolex Explorer 36 ref. 124270 had a list price of €7,150 a year ago and can be yours today for €7,450. The bigger 40mm ref. 224270 was introduced during Watches and Wonders last year for €7,650 and now has a list price of €7,900. Both increases are on the lower side of all increases at 4.1% and 3.2%, respectively. The 36mm two-tone ref. 124273 was available for €11,650 in January 2023 and now goes for €12,300. Once again, the two-tone variant gets a steeper price increase at 5.5%.
Moving on to the Explorer II ref. 226570 with a black or white dial. Last January, Rolex increased the price for both to €9,550. This year, both watches broke the €10K barrier with a list price of €10,050. It’s a price increase of 5.2% for the current Explorer II.
Image: The Watch Club
Rolex Datejust
Let’s take a quick peek at a few of the many Datejust options out there. First, the 36mm ref. 126234 with the fluted bezel on a Jubilee bracelet was available at the start of 2023 for €8,800. The new price is set at €9,300. If you prefer the bigger 41mm ref. 126334, you had to pay €10,350 a year ago. The new price tag now reads €10,900, which translates to a price increase of 5.3%, whereas the smaller 36mm variant increased by 5.6%.
Image: The Watch Club
The Rolesor 40mm ref. 126333 in steel and yellow gold was available at the start of last year for €14,200. The new price is set at €15,050, a 5.9% increase. Once again, the two-tone models have become relatively more expensive than their stainless steel counterparts.
Rolex Yacht-Master 42 Titanium
Let’s end things with the massively popular and brilliant Rolex Yacht-Master 42 in titanium, ref. 226627. It’s another new model introduced in 2023 during Watches and Wonders. Getting your hands on one at retail can be even more challenging than other models as it is one of last year’s biggest hits. It debuted in March of last year at €13,900 and now has a new price of €14,650. It’s a price increase of 5.4% and is in line with what we have seen for other models.
Final thoughts on the new Rolex prices for 2024
This article only covers a selection of the available Rolex models. However, it’s safe to say that the price increases for January 2024 are roughly between 4% and 6%. Compared to previous years, these increases are not quite as steep. In 2022 and 2023, we saw more significant price increases, and as most of you know, the prices were also adjusted during 2023. Therefore, it is good to see that Rolex decided not to increase them by double digits again. Another quick takeaway is that the Rolesor models got the biggest price increases. It seems unbelievable that this resulted from the increased popularity of two-tone Rolex watches, but that could be the case, and if so, I’m all for it. Two-tone for the win in 2024!
But let us know your thoughts on these Rolex price increases in the comments section. Are they reasonable, or have some prices become too steep? We would love to hear your opinion.
