Luxury Watch Prices Are on the Rise This Year

In an article looking back at the U.S. economy in 2025, Ben Casselman and Colby Smith of The New York Times described the economy as being in a condition of “uneasy limbo.” “Inflation cooled, but remains elevated,” they wrote — something that’s been felt in everything from home renovations to consumer electronics. And, as it turns out, luxury watches are also reckoning with prince increases of their own.

Earlier this month, Professional Watches reported on Rolex having raised its prices again to ring in 2026. A company raising prices as a new year begins isn’t a rare phenomenon, but the article points out that this is the third time Rolex has increased prices since Jan. 1, 2025. One of those increases came last May, when the Swiss watch company raised prices in response to the Trump administration’s “Liberation Day” declaration in April 2025.

Two examples of price increases cited by Professional Watches are the Rolex GMT-Master II and the Submariner. The article points to price increases of 6.2% for each watch ($11,300 to $12,000 and $9,500 to $10,050, respectively) between Dec. 31, 2025 and Jan. 1, 2026.

Rolex is not the only luxury watch brand with prices increasing in 2026. WatchPro’s Rob Corder reported that, in addition to Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Tudor are also raising watch prices for the new year.

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In a column published last month, Corder explored some of the reasons behind the industry’s rise in prices. While tariffs played a significant role there, they were not the only factor at play; a steady rise in the price of gold has also made an impact on, well, watches that used gold as part of their design. There are several elements at play here; unfortunately, the end result is very similar: a higher price tag for many a timepiece.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…