You’ll Never Guess This Year’s Hottest-Selling Rolex Watch

Whatever you think of Rolex, there is no denying that the entire Swiss watch industry runs through the Crown.

Not only is Rolex the top-selling Swiss watch brand year after year, but the company keeps increasing its lead. Rolex now sells well over one million watches every year, and last year, the brand accounted for more than 30 percent of all Swiss watch sales — more than its next four closest competitors combined.

Rolex also boasts more iconic models than any other brand, with the Submariner, Datejust, GMT-Master II, Daytona, Day-Date and Explorer at least all being household names.

But which model is currently the most popular?

Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

The King of The Crown

Determining the best-selling new Rolex watch isn’t really possible, as Rolex doesn’t share its sales figures. Still, an educated guess could suggest that the always in-demand, waitlisted steel sports watches like the Submariner and GMT-Master II might take the top spot.

But when it comes to the best-selling used Rolex watches, I actually have access to data that can shed light on that subject.

The data to which I’m referring comes from SwissWatchExpo, an Atlanta-based retailer that boasts the largest inventory of used Rolex watches in the U.S. The company recently released a report detailing its top-selling watches of 2024, and the results were pretty surprising.

SwissWatchExpo

The top-selling Rolex model on SwissWatchExpo this year was the Datejust, with the reference 16233 in two-tone Rolesor (steel and yellow gold) on a Jubilee bracelet with a champagne dial being the site’s single best-selling watch overall.

This is pretty surprising, as I was definitely thinking one of the hot sports watches — a Pepsi GMT, perhaps — would take the top spot on the ravenous secondary market. But I was wrong.

The ’80s Are Back

While the ref. 16233 is a slightly newer style of the Datejust, first introduced in 1988, the top seller’s overall style — two-tone Jubilee, fluted yellow gold bezel, champagne dial — is the quintessential watch of the 1980s.

Specifically, the watch has come to symbolize the glitzy Wall Street fashion of the Reagan Era thanks to appearances in films such as Pretty Woman, where it was worn by Richard Gere’s New York corporate raider, and American Psycho, where it was part of the uniform of Christian Bale’s sadistic investment banker.

Walt Disney Studios

I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised. After all, 2024 has seen a major uptick in the popularity of “geezer watches,” with small, gold dress watches from the 1970s and ’80s — or modern watches that appropriate their vibes — increasingly driving the direction of the industry, as evidenced by such new releases this year as the Piaget Polo 79, Bulgari Bulgari, and Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse.

I guess I had assumed Rolex was immune from this trend because it’s Rolex, and the rules generally don’t apply to them, but that’s not the case. Even among Submariners, the two-toned ref. 16613 was the top seller for SwissWatchExpo this year, outselling any steel Sub — a stat that is frankly astounding.

If nothing else, this data proves there’s truly no escaping the glitz and glam of 1980s watches in 2024. So the question now becomes: Will the trend continue in 2025?

Related Topics