The chart above shows all-stock median days-to-sell for the Rolex families that met the pooled suppression threshold in Q3 2024, Q3 2025 and Q3 2026. Shorter bars to the left mean faster turnover.
In one paragraphThe third quarterly edition of the BQ Watches Pre-Owned Market Index, pooling July, August and September 2026 transactional data. Introduces the nine-index BQ Watches Market Index price series led by the BQ 50, publishes the widest Rolex Liquidity Report in the series, and adds a third year to the multi-year channel-mix view.
The BQ 50, the BQ Watches Market Index of pre-owned watch prices (Q1 2024 = 100), averaged 102.2 in Q3 2026, its highest quarterly level since the series began and 5.1 points above Q3 2025. All nine BQ Watches price indices rose on both the previous quarter and the previous year. The Rolex Datejust index led at 110.7. The GMT-Master II (101.1) and Daytona (100.5) moved above their Q1 2024 baselines for the first time. Turnover moved the other way: pooled all-Rolex median days-to-sell was 64 days, slower than Q3 2025 (51 days) but faster than Q3 2024 (81 days). Q3 2026 is the first quarterly edition in which pooled Rolex turnover ran slower than the prior year. Ten Rolex reference families met the pooled-quarter suppression threshold, the widest Liquidity Report in the series.
The BQ 50 reached its highest level in the series, at 102.2. The BQ 50, the headline index of the BQ Watches Market Index, averaged 102.2 across Q3 2026 against the Q1 2024 baseline of 100. That is 2.2 points above Q2 2026 and 5.1 points above Q3 2025, which was the low point of the series at 97.1. It is the first quarter in which the BQ 50 has averaged above its baseline. Every one of the nine BQ Watches price indices rose on both the previous quarter and the previous year. It is the first quarter in which all nine have risen together. Monthly levels for every index are published at /market-index.
Among the Rolex family indices, the Datejust led and the GMT-Master II and Daytona crossed their baselines. The Datejust index rose to 110.7, its highest level and 9.0 points above Q3 2025. It is the only family index that has never fallen below its baseline. The GMT-Master II index recorded the largest quarterly rise of the nine, up 3.6 points to 101.1, its first quarter above 100. The Daytona index reached 100.5, also above its baseline for the first time, recovering from its Q3 2025 low of 95.9. The Submariner index returned to exactly 100.0. The Sea-Dweller index remains the weakest at 95.8, but has risen 4.4 points from its Q1 2026 low.
Steel references led the segment indices. Of the three new segment indices, the Steel index rose most over the year, up 5.7 points to 102.6, its highest level. The Neo-Vintage index stood at 102.1, slightly below its Q1 2026 peak but the strongest of the three over two years. The Two-Tone index reached 101.1, its highest level, after spending most of 2024 and 2025 below 100.
Pooled Rolex turnover ran slower than the prior year for the first time in a quarterly edition. All-stock median days-to-sell for pre-owned Rolex across Q3 2026 was 64 days, against 51 days in Q3 2025 and 81 days in Q3 2024. Q1 and Q2 2026 had both run at roughly half the two-year-earlier pace, so Q3 marks a clear change. The owned-only reading, which excludes consignment-route stock, was 77 days, up from 63 days in Q2 2026. Taken together with the BQ 50, Q3 shows prices rising and stock taking longer to sell. That is consistent with a market where price expectations have moved slightly ahead of buyer demand.
Ten Rolex reference families met the pooled-quarter suppression threshold, the widest Liquidity Report in the series. The Datejust, GMT-Master, Submariner, Daytona, Oyster Perpetual, Sky-Dweller, Yacht-Master, Day-Date, Explorer II and Sea-Dweller all met the threshold across the pooled quarter. The Explorer II appeared at threshold for the first time in any edition. The Sea-Dweller returned after falling below the pooled threshold in Q2 2026, resolving a watch-list item set in the Q2 edition. The Sky-Dweller returned for the first time since Q1 2026. The Air-King, a first-time entrant in Q2, fell back below threshold.
The most-traded reference list swung back towards the Datejust. The Rolex GMT-Master II 126710BLNR returned to the top rank it held in Q1 2026. Three Datejust references made the list: the 126300, the 126334 and the Lady-Datejust 69173. The Submariner 126610LN completed it. The sport-model dominance of the Q2 list has partly reversed. The GMT-Master II 126710GRNR and the Submariner 124060, both first-time entrants in Q2, fell below threshold. Correction: earlier quarterly editions gave two GMT-Master II references the wrong nicknames. The 126710BLNR (black and blue bezel) is the "Batman", not the "Pepsi"; the Pepsi is the 126710BLRO. The 126710GRNR (grey and black bezel) is the "Bruce Wayne", not the "Sprite"; the Sprite is the left-handed 126720VTNR. The reference numbers published in those editions were correct.
In-person showroom contact is now the riser in the multi-year channel mix. Across the pooled quarter, telephone and in-person contact each accounted for approximately 35% of completed-sale contact, with bqwatches.com at approximately 30%. Two years ago, in Q3 2024, telephone was at approximately 40% and in-person at approximately 25%. The ten-point gain at the Radlett showroom and Hatton Garden viewing office matches the website's two-year rise reported in the Q2 2026 edition. The website's share was flat against Q3 2025. That reframes the Q2 2026 multi-year view, which identified the website as the rising channel and described in-person contact as stable.
For month-by-month detail, the monthly editions remain the canonical source.
July 2026 edition: Tudor met the monthly suppression threshold for the first time in the series. The Rolex family list at monthly threshold narrowed to three (Datejust, GMT-Master and Submariner). All-Rolex days-to-sell recorded a seventh consecutive month of year-on-year improvement. The Submariner ran slower than its year-on-year comparison for the first time.
August 2026 edition: the seven-month streak of year-on-year improvement in all-Rolex days-to-sell ended, against an unusually fast August 2025 comparison. Every at-threshold Rolex family ran slower year-on-year for the first time. Tudor held threshold for a second month. Customer-side ChatGPT attribution reached its highest monthly reading to date. In-person contact rose to approximately 35%.
September 2026 edition: all-Rolex all-stock days-to-sell recorded its slowest month in the series at 70 days. The Submariner recorded its slowest monthly reading. The Daytona returned to monthly threshold. Tudor held threshold for a third consecutive month. bqwatches.com fell to approximately 25% of completed-sale contact, its lowest monthly share in the series.
Across the pooled quarter, Rolex accounted for approximately 55% of transactions at BQ Watches. That is in line with the Q3 2025 and Q3 2024 pooled readings, which also rounded to approximately 55%.
Brand share rounded to the nearest 5%; rounded shares may not sum to 100%. Brands are named individually where they met the pooled-quarter suppression threshold and their share rounds to at least 5%. All other brands are aggregated.
Cartier held a top-three position at approximately 10% for the third consecutive quarterly edition. Omega returned to approximately 10% at pooled resolution, matching Cartier on the rounded view. TAG Heuer is named in the brand mix for the first time in any edition of the series. The most significant movement is Tudor. Its pooled Q3 share rose year-on-year for the first time in the quarterly series. Every previous quarterly edition had recorded Tudor below its year-earlier level, a pattern first published in the Q1 2026 quarterly. Three consecutive monthly at-threshold readings in July, August and September are now matched by a year-on-year rise at pooled resolution. The Tudor decline at BQ Watches appears to have ended.
Ten Rolex reference families met the suppression threshold across Q3 2026, ranked by transaction share within Rolex:
The Datejust held the top rank for the third consecutive quarterly edition. The GMT-Master moved ahead of the Submariner into second place, the first time it has ranked second in a quarterly edition. The ten-family list is two wider than the eight-family Liquidity Reports published in Q1 and Q2 2026.
| Reference family | All-stock Q3 2026 | Owned-only Q3 2026 | All-stock Q3 2025 | All-stock Q3 2024 | Direction (all-stock) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rolex GMT-Master | 33 | 43 | 29 | 48 | Mixed (slower vs Q3 25, faster vs Q3 24) |
| Rolex Submariner | 36 | 38 | 27 | 63 | Mixed (slower vs Q3 25, faster vs Q3 24) |
| Rolex Daytona | 38 | 41 | 29 | 37 | Slower vs Q3 25, flat vs Q3 24 |
| Rolex Sky-Dweller | 59 | 72 | n/a | n/a | n/a (prior-year samples below threshold) |
| Rolex Explorer II | 62 | 64 | n/a | n/a | n/a (first at-threshold appearance) |
| Rolex Sea-Dweller | 65 | n/a | 75 | 67 | Faster (vs both) |
| Rolex Oyster Perpetual | 70 | 123 | 35 | 73 | Mixed (slower vs Q3 25, faster vs Q3 24) |
| Rolex Yacht-Master | 103 | 154 | 41 | 146 | Mixed (slower vs Q3 25, faster vs Q3 24) |
| Rolex Datejust | 112 | 121 | 111 | 113 | Flat (vs both) |
| Rolex Day-Date | 138 | n/a | n/a | 156 | Faster (vs Q3 24) |
| All Rolex (combined) | 64 | 77 | 51 | 81 | Mixed (slower vs Q3 25, faster vs Q3 24) |
The table below shows median days-to-sell across the pooled Q3 2026 quarter for the ten Rolex families at threshold. Each is published as an all-stock reading, comparable with the Q3 2025 and Q3 2024 pooled composites, and an owned-only reading, which excludes consignment-route stock. Cells where the underlying sample falls below the suppression threshold are marked with a dash. Year-on-year direction is reported against the all-stock readings.
The chart above shows all-stock median days-to-sell for the Rolex families that met the pooled suppression threshold in Q3 2024, Q3 2025 and Q3 2026. Shorter bars to the left mean faster turnover.
Q3 2025 was a fast quarter at BQ Watches. Five of the seven families with a Q3 2025 comparison ran faster then than in Q3 2026, and the August and September 2025 monthly readings were among the fastest the index has recorded. Against Q3 2024, the picture reverses: all eight families with a comparison were faster or flat in Q3 2026. The Datejust is the most stable family in the table, within two days across all three Q3 readings. The Sea-Dweller is the only family to run faster than both prior years.
The owned-only readings show where consignment-route stock flattered the all-stock figures. For the Oyster Perpetual and Yacht-Master, the owned-only medians (123 and 154 days) are far above the all-stock readings. In both families, consignment-route sales recorded close to zero days in stock and pulled the all-stock median down. For the sport families (GMT-Master, Submariner and Daytona), the two measures are within ten days of each other.
Across the pooled quarter, consignment-route Rolex sales recorded a median of 0 days in stock. That is consistent with Q2 2026 and with the way consignment works: the arrangement typically begins close to the eventual sale. Unlike Q2, no individual family met the suppression threshold on the consignment side in Q3, so no family-level consignment-route figures are published this quarter.
The most-traded specific Rolex references at BQ Watches across Q3 2026, ranked by completed transactions across the quarter, with each reference's market price at the end of September 2026 and its change on September 2025:
The 126710BLNR returned to the top rank it held in Q1 2026, after slipping to fourth in Q2. The Datejust 41 126300 and 126334 both returned to threshold after appearing in Q1 and falling below in Q2. The vintage two-tone Lady-Datejust 69173 appears in the reference list for the first time. The Submariner Date 126610LN is the only reference to have appeared in all three quarterly lists. The Q2 entrants 126710GRNR "Bruce Wayne" and 124060 both fell below threshold. The two Datejust 41 references rose most over the year, by about a fifth, which is behind the Datejust index's lead. Market prices in pounds, 1-month, 1-year and 3-year price changes, liquidity bands and typical days to sell for each reference are published on its reference page. Prices are for a standard example of each reference and are rounded to the nearest £10.
The Transaction Price Index moved to a monthly, like-for-like method in November 2026, and earlier quarters have been restated. The figures as first published are on the methodology page.
From this edition, the Transaction Price Index is taken from the BQ Watches Market Index: monthly, quality-adjusted, chained and value-weighted indices with Q1 2024 = 100. The quarterly figures below are the average of the three monthly levels in each quarter. There are nine indices: the BQ 50 headline index, five Rolex family indices and three segment indices.
| Quarter | BQ 50 | Submariner | GMT-Master II | Datejust | Daytona | Sea-Dweller | Steel | Two-Tone | Neo-Vintage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2024 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Q2 2024 | 99.5 | 99.7 | 98.9 | 100.2 | 98.9 | 99.0 | 100.0 | 97.7 | 97.2 |
| Q3 2024 | 99.7 | 101.1 | 98.6 | 100.1 | 99.0 | 98.9 | 100.5 | 97.2 | 97.7 |
| Q4 2024 | 98.6 | 100.2 | 96.1 | 102.0 | 97.7 | 98.1 | 98.7 | 98.8 | 100.8 |
| Q1 2025 | 97.5 | 98.8 | 95.2 | 101.3 | 98.1 | 97.0 | 97.9 | 97.3 | 99.3 |
| Q2 2025 | 97.6 | 97.5 | 95.9 | 102.7 | 97.7 | 94.9 | 97.8 | 97.3 | 99.5 |
| Q3 2025 | 97.1 | 97.4 | 96.5 | 101.7 | 95.9 | 92.4 | 96.9 | 97.7 | 100.3 |
| Q4 2025 | 97.6 | 96.6 | 95.3 | 104.9 | 96.1 | 91.5 | 97.2 | 98.6 | 102.1 |
| Q1 2026 | 98.4 | 97.7 | 96.1 | 106.2 | 97.6 | 91.4 | 97.8 | 100.1 | 102.7 |
| Q2 2026 | 100.0 | 99.6 | 97.5 | 107.4 | 99.9 | 92.8 | 99.9 | 100.2 | 101.4 |
| Q3 2026 | 102.2 | 100.0 | 101.1 | 110.7 | 100.5 | 95.8 | 102.6 | 101.1 | 102.1 |
Index levels to one decimal place; Q1 2024 = 100. Quarterly figures are the average of monthly levels. Monthly levels, and CSVs for each index, are published under CC BY 4.0 on each index page and at /market-index.
The chart above shows the BQ 50 and the five Rolex family price indices by quarter, Q1 2024 = 100. Quarterly figures are the average of monthly levels; monthly levels are on each index page.
The chart above shows the BQ 50 and the Steel, Two-Tone and Neo-Vintage segment indices by quarter, Q1 2024 = 100.
Q3 2026 is the first quarter in which all nine indices rose together: every one was higher than in Q2 2026 and higher than in Q3 2025. The BQ 50 has risen in each of the last four quarters, from 97.1 in Q3 2025 to 102.2. Six of the nine indices are at their highest quarterly level: the BQ 50, GMT-Master II, Datejust, Daytona, Steel and Two-Tone.
The Datejust has been the strongest family throughout. It is 10.7 points above its baseline, more than any other index. The GMT-Master II and Daytona spent 2024 and 2025 below their baselines and have now both moved above 100. The Submariner sits exactly at its baseline after dipping to 96.6 in Q4 2025. The Sea-Dweller is the only index still clearly below 100, though it has risen in each of the last two quarters.
Among the segments, Steel rose most over the year. Neo-Vintage gained most over two years (4.4 points from Q3 2024) but eased slightly from its Q1 2026 peak. Two-Tone moved above 100 in Q1 2026 and has stayed there.
The Oyster Perpetual, Sky-Dweller, Yacht-Master, Air-King and Day-Date do not have price indices. They continue to be reported in the liquidity and days-to-sell tables above.
Consignment-route stock accounted for approximately 25% of completed sales at BQ Watches across the pooled Q3 2026 quarter, matching the Q2 2026 pooled reading:
Stock-route composition has now held within the approximately 25-30% band in every monthly and quarterly edition in which it has been published.
Across the pooled Q3 2026 quarter, the contact method through which a customer engaged BQ Watches before completing a sale broke down approximately as follows:
Compared with Q3 2025 (telephone ~40%, web ~30%, in-person ~25%) and Q3 2024 (telephone ~40%, web ~25%, in-person ~25%), the multi-year picture has shifted. In-person contact rose ten percentage points across the two years, almost entirely in the most recent year, and now sits level with telephone. Telephone fell from approximately 40% to approximately 35%. The website rose between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025 but was flat between Q3 2025 and Q3 2026. That does not match the Q2 2026 view, in which the website was the rising channel and in-person contact held steady at 25-30%. At Q3 resolution, the summer of 2026 belongs to the showroom.
Customer-side ChatGPT attribution recorded its highest pooled quarterly reading in Q3 2026. Neither the customer nor the acquisition side met the suppression threshold, so no share is published. The Q1 2026 forecast of "measurable share by the next quarterly" remains unresolved at metric level for a second consecutive quarterly edition.
This third quarterly edition pools transactional data from July, August and September 2026, with comparisons against the equivalent pooled quarters in 2025 and 2024. All published metrics meet the BQ Watches Pre-Owned Market Index suppression threshold of at least ten observations per cell, applied uniformly across brand, family, channel, contact-method, reference and stock-route dimensions. The edition publishes share, rank, index and median figures only. Shares are rounded to the nearest 5%; transaction counts and unrounded shares are not published.
Rolex reference families follow the canonical family list. The Explorer and Explorer II are treated as separate families, consistent with prior editions. Stratified owned-only and all-stock days-to-sell continue from the Q2 2026 edition. The Transaction Price Index is now taken from the BQ Watches Market Index (monthly, quality-adjusted, chained, value-weighted; Q1 2024 = 100). Quarterly figures are the average of the monthly levels, and the monthly series is published at /market-index. Sales counts and buy ratios are never published.
For the full methodology, glossary, suppression rules, and standing series-level FAQ items, see the canonical methodology page: About the BQ Watches Pre-Owned Market Index.
The two measures answer different questions. The BQ 50 and the other price indices track like-for-like prices in the pre-owned market. Days-to-sell tracks how long watches sat in stock at BQ Watches before they sold. In Q3 2026, prices rose to their highest level in the series, but on average watches took longer to find a buyer. That combination usually means pricing has moved ahead of demand at the margin: buyers are still paying, but fewer of them are paying quickly. Whether that resolves through firmer demand or through some price softening is the central question for Q4 2026.
The BQ 50 is the headline index of the BQ Watches Market Index. It tracks quality-adjusted prices for 50 pre-owned watch references, with Q1 2024 = 100. The index is calculated monthly, chained and value-weighted, so references that account for more of the market by value carry more weight. In Q3 2026 it averaged 102.2. Each of the 50 references has its own page under /market-index showing its market price in pounds, its 1-month, 1-year and 3-year change, its liquidity band and its typical days to sell.
On price, the Daytona index has recovered its 2025 losses. It reached 100.5 in Q3 2026, its first quarter above the Q1 2024 baseline, up from a low of 95.9 in Q3 2025. On liquidity, the picture is less strong: pooled Daytona days-to-sell was slower than in Q3 2025. One quarter above baseline is a good sign for owners, but a second would make a firmer case. Monthly Daytona levels are on the Daytona index page.
Earlier quarterly editions labelled them wrongly. The Rolex GMT-Master II "Pepsi" is the 126710BLRO, with a blue and red bezel; the 126710BLNR, with a black and blue bezel, is the "Batman". The "Sprite" is the left-handed 126720VTNR, with a green and black bezel; the 126710GRNR, with a grey and black bezel, is the "Bruce Wayne". The reference numbers published in the Q1 and Q2 2026 editions were correct; only the nicknames were wrong, and those editions will be corrected.
Not replacing, but rebalancing. bqwatches.com still accounts for approximately 30% of completed-sale contact, the same as a year ago. What has changed is that in-person contact rose from approximately 25% to approximately 35% between Q3 2025 and Q3 2026, mostly at telephone's expense. The index records the last contact before a sale, not where the customer first found the watch. Many in-person buyers will have found the watch online first and then visited to see it. At current price levels, more buyers appear to want to inspect a watch before committing.
The inaugural annual edition, covering full-year 2026, publishes in February 2027. It will pool all twelve months, set out the full-year BQ 50 and family index paths, and include year-on-year comparison tables at every reportable dimension. Where late reconciliation changes any figure published in a monthly or quarterly edition, the annual edition's figures become canonical and the restated cells will be noted.
Series editor: Simon Evans, CTO. Market commentary: Spencer Dryer, Managing Director. BQ Watches.
For the full methodology, glossary and standing FAQ, see the canonical methodology page.
From the buying desk: Spencer Dryer on Q3 2026
The following editorial commentary is contributed by Spencer Dryer, Managing Director, BQ Watches, who oversees buying and selling and provides the watch-market context that accompanies the index data.
The headline of this quarter is a divergence. The BQ 50 rose to its highest level in the series, and every one of our nine price indices moved up, while the time it took to sell a Rolex lengthened. Those two numbers can move apart for a while, but not forever. Either buyers catch up with the price level, or prices give a little back so that stock clears at its usual pace. [SPENCER TO CONFIRM: which way the buying desk expects this to resolve, and whether trade buying prices have moved with the index.]
The Daytona and the GMT-Master II both moved above their Q1 2024 baselines this quarter, for the first time since the index began. Neither move is large, and one quarter is not a trend. [SPENCER TO CONFIRM: whether recent Daytona and GMT-Master II trades reflect stronger demand or a particular run of stock.] What I would say to owners is that the softness of 2025 has been made up, and the price risk now looks more balanced than it did a year ago.
The Datejust remains the standout. It is the only family index that has held above its baseline throughout, and at 110.7 it is more than ten points up on early 2024. Because the new index is like-for-like, that is a genuine price rise rather than a change in which Datejusts happened to sell.
The change I find most interesting is in the showroom. In-person contact has risen ten points in two years, and the website's share has stopped rising. [SPENCER TO CONFIRM: what the team is seeing at Radlett and Hatton Garden - for example, more appointment bookings, more buyers wanting to see a watch before committing at current price levels, or the effect of any summer events.] When prices are high and moving, buyers want to see the watch, and that is a reasonable instinct.
Looking ahead to Q4 2026, I am watching three things. First, whether the BQ 50 holds above 100 and whether the Daytona and GMT-Master II stay above their baselines. Second, whether days-to-sell eases back as buyers adjust to the new price level, or keeps lengthening into the year-end. Third, whether Tudor's recovery at BQ Watches turns into a sustained rise rather than a halt in decline. The inaugural annual edition in February 2027 will bring all four 2026 quarters together.