Rolex and crypto increasingly correlated, secondary market falls

Prestigious brands, such as Rolex and Patek Philippe, have declined since the start of the crypto bearish trend.

Second-hand Rolex and Patek Philippe prices fall, in line with crypto’s decline

Luxury watches, particularly trophy watches, are very fashionable among cryptocurrency traders and HODLers, as are, of course, all those luxury goods that hold value over time. 

Over time we have come to appreciate how these two markets are becoming more and more interrelated, a linkage that is becoming closer and closer and follows as much the flows as the value itself. 

The crypto market, which was worth $3 trillion until last November’s highs, has fallen with the downtrend and the macro conjuncture to just under $1 trillion, only to recover in recent months. 

The secondary market for trophy watches over the same period declined by 50%, before also recovering in the last 20 days. 

Prices have been no different. The price of Bitcoin reaching its highs last November saw a Patek Phillipe Nautilus 5711A go from $35,000 to $240,000, for example. 

Since that time, in this quarter that has seen BTC and other crypto assets such as Ethereum drop in value before slightly recovering ground in recent weeks, the same watch has dropped in value coming in at $190,000. 

Chrono24, in a note reported by Bloomberg, said that the supply of trophy watches, such as the Rolex Daytona or the Patek Nautilus 5711A (which went to $190,000 from $240,000 in the first quarter), “is now much wider”.

The correlation in the last quarter has become stronger

Chrono24 told Bloomberg that the price of a Patek Philippe, or a Rolex, fell sharply again in the last quarter, and the second-hand market is full of such watches that used to be very much in vogue and are being sold in droves, especially by miners and small and medium-sized investors. 

Tim Stracke, Co-CEO of Chrono24, explained how this drop in prices due to mass selling by some investors to make up for losses has calmed the prices of these assets significantly. 

In contrast, other models from brands such as Cartier and Breitling have risen, positioning themselves at an elite end of the market. 

The luxury watch market and the crypto market are increasingly going hand in hand. Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer recently made it known that it has given its customers the ability to make crypto payments online in the United States through an integration with BitPay.

Another Swiss brand, Franck Muller, recently made it known that it will launch a unique Binance NFT collection with limited edition timepieces.