Rolex lovers splash out on used watches before Trump tariffs

Watch enthusiasts snapped up used Rolex SA and Patek Philippe SA timepieces at the end of April, splashing out before possible tariffs from US President Donald Trump.

The watch dealer and trading platform Subdial often sees a flurry of activity after people get their paychecks at the end of each month. In April, the post-payday spike was 160% higher than normal trading levels, far above the average 112% bump experienced on other pay days over the past year.

The volume growth was particularly strong in the US and UK, Christy Davis, founder of London-based Subdial, said in an interview. “People heard about the tariffs and went, ‘Oh shoot, let’s buy now,’” Davis said. “They waited for pay day and then sales volumes just went through the roof.”

The phenomenon echoed another trend seen in Switzerland, where watch exports jumped by nearly a fifth in April — with shipments to the US more than doubling ahead of expanded tariffs threatened by Trump. Watches made from precious metals, steel and bimetallic materials, products also targeted by Trump, saw the most growth, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.

The US jump was likely a one-off response by exporters seeking to avoid higher tariffs, rather than a structural increase in demand, Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at Vontobel, said in a note. Swiss watch exports fell 6.4% to the rest of the world in the month, continuing a weak start to the year.

The secondary watch market has continued its gradual rebound from February’s post-pandemic lows. Since reaching that nadir, the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index has risen about 5.3% through late May, returning to levels last seen in October. It remains far from the levels it reached three years ago, when prices of used luxury watches surged as Covid lockdowns ended.