ALT/FNDATA · Market Report
Q1 2025 Report: The Secondary Market for Luxury Watches
Auction-realized prices and the public-market backdrop
A soft but orderly start: auction value eased year over year even as the lot count rose, the high end thinned from a year earlier, and Swiss exports edged back to growth in March, an early sign of the steadying to come.
The headline
The correction in three numbers
$17.5M
Q1 2025 auction value
Across 2,536 sold lots; −10% gross and −8% like-for-like vs 2024
$277,647
Top lot at Phillips
The high end thinned, down from a $406,400 top a year earlier
−8%
Like-for-like value, YoY
$17.2M vs $18.7M at the houses tracked in both quarters
Auction-realized prices: what watches actually sold for at the hammer, not asking prices. · 10M+ auction results · 100+ houses.
Key findings
What the quarter told us
- A soft start, but orderly: Q1 2025 cleared $17.5M across 2,536 sold lots, down approximately 10% in value year over year (8% like-for-like), even as the lot count rose, a thinner-per-lot quarter rather than a contraction in participation.
- March was the quarter, roughly $12.9M of the $17.5M, as the spring sales followed a quiet January and February.
- The high end thinned. The quarter's top lot, at $277,647 at Phillips, was down about 32% from the $406,400 that led Q1 2024; the marquee complications were less in evidence than a year earlier.
- Phillips ($6.6M) and Sotheby's ($4.2M) led, with Loupe This ($2.8M) and the European mid-market supplying the long tail.
- The market stayed two-tier and blue-chip-led: Rolex, Patek Philippe and Cartier anchored the top among the attributed brands, over a deep base of vintage and unbranded lots.
- The macro backdrop was steadying. Swiss watch exports returned to growth in March (+1.5%) within a soft quarter (−1.1% cumulative), and the equities split, a January relief rally lifting Richemont (+11%) while Swatch (−8%) and LVMH (−10%) lagged on tariff threats.
Year-over-year
Q1 2024 vs. Q1 2025
Q1 2024 vs. Q1 2025: sold luxury-watch lots at auction (like-for-like = the 17 houses present in both quarters)
| Metric | Q1 2024 | Q1 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sold auction lots | 2,213 | 2,536 | +15% |
| Like-for-like lots | 1,926 | 2,135 | +11% |
| Total value (USD) | $19.4M | $17.5M | −10% |
| Like-for-like value | $18.7M | $17.2M | −8% |
| Top marquee lot | $406,400 | $277,647 | −32% |
The divergence
The watch-relevant majors split in Q1 2025: a January relief rally lifted Richemont (+11%) while Swatch (−8%) and LVMH (−10%) lagged on China weakness and tariff threats. Swiss watch exports edged back to growth in March (+1.5%), an early sign of the steadying to come.
Source: Yahoo Finance closing prices (31 Dec 2024 to 31 Mar 2025); Swiss exports via FH.
The outlook
Three trends that will define the year
A soft, orderly start
The watch market opened 2025 lower year over year but without disorder, the lot count rising even as value eased. The decline was in price per lot at the top, not in participation across the market.
Blue-chip gravity
Rolex, Patek Philippe and Cartier anchored the top over a deep vintage and unbranded base. The ceiling is branded; the floor is broad and resilient, the two-tier structure that defines the watch-auction market.
Exports steadying, equities split
Swiss exports edged back to growth in March even as the listed houses diverged. The first faint signs of the stabilization that would build through the year sat beneath an otherwise soft print.
“A soft but orderly open: the watch market eased at the top while its broad base held, and beneath the print, Swiss exports had already begun, faintly, to steady.”
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Read the full report
The headline data above is free to cite. The full report is part of ALT/FNDATA Membership, which includes every quarterly market report and the Visual Analytics Hub. Inside this report:
- The full month-by-month auction breakdown (January to March)
- The macro backdrop: Swiss exports, the equities and the franc
- Brands and the blue-chip ceiling over the vintage base
- Methodology and how to cite the data
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Source: ALT/FNDATA, “Q1 2025 Report: The Secondary Market for Luxury Watches” (June 2026). Based on auction-realized prices for wristwatches and pocket watches cleared at the auction houses ALT/FNDATA tracks, with public-market context from Q1 2025 Swiss watch exports and watch-house equity performance. © 2026 ALT/FNDATA · altfndata.com/reports/luxury-watch-market-report-q1-2025