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Geneva, Switzerland--Despite a decline in the value of luxury watches on the secondary market by 8% last year, high-end timepieces from Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet are still outperforming stocks and cryptocurrencies, according to a report.

[Image via Flickr Commons]

The report noted that this contrasts the 19% drop in the S&P 500 stock index and the 65% plunge in Bitcoin. Although prices for these luxury watches have been falling sharply in the secondary market, they have still attracted deep-pocketed consumers keen to splurge on high-end goods after crimping on spending during lockdowns.

Morgan Stanley analysts have said that nearly all asset classes have been down over the past 18 months, but the market for second-hand watches has fallen less than others. However, prices of second-hand luxury watches are expected to drop further as supply surges.

The market has seen an increase in the number of Rolex watches on the secondary market, which rose by 19% in the fourth quarter alone. Across 2022, Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet watch supply rose by 104%, 110%, and 78%, respectively.

While the price correction of the big three brands was most profound in the fourth quarter, with Audemars Piguet losing 6.8%, Patek Philippe down 6.7%, and Rolex dropping 5.1%, other luxury watchmakers have seen a rise in their prices. For instance, timepieces made by A.Lange & Sohne rose 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Additionally, secondary market prices of Tag Heuer, a mass-market brand owned by LVMH, and Tissot, another popular mass brand owned by Swatch Group AG, rose 3.3% and 3.2%, respectively, during the quarter.

Learn more in this report.