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WatchCharts finds a flat September index and gains beyond the big three
Its October update puts September’s overall secondary-market index change at 0.0 per cent, while 22 of 28 higher-priced tracked brands rose.
Hen & Mills Editorial · 3 min read · 13 October 2026
A flat month can hide a surprisingly busy market. Anyone following used-watch prices has seen the headline index hold almost still while particular collections move enough to change a buying decision. WatchCharts' October update gives that tension a number: its Overall Market Index was virtually flat in September 2026, yet most of the higher-priced brands it follows rose. That is a more interesting result than either a sweeping recovery story or a declaration that the market has stalled.
What flat means in the WatchCharts index
In its 10 October market update, WatchCharts puts September's move in its Overall Market Index at 0.0 per cent. Its index description says this measure follows secondary-market price trends for 300 watches drawn from the ten largest luxury-watch brands by transaction value, with the watches sorted and weighted by transaction value. It is an index of estimated market prices for a defined basket, not a count of watches sold or a measure of every watch on the resale market.
Within the report's wider set of brands whose average secondary prices exceed US$3,000, 22 of 28 gained in September, nine by more than one per cent. Parmigiani Fleurier led that group at two per cent. Audemars Piguet gained 0.5 per cent and Patek Philippe 0.2 per cent, while Rolex fell 0.4 per cent. IWC and Piaget each lost 0.7 per cent. A flat headline basket therefore does not mean every maker finished where it started.
The collection examples make the variation more concrete. WatchCharts places Cartier's Roadster up 2.5 per cent, Breguet's Tradition up 2.2 per cent and A. Lange & Söhne's 1815 up two per cent. On the other side, the Rolex Submariner was down one per cent, the Explorer 1.7 per cent and the Tudor Submariner 3.3 per cent. These are changes in WatchCharts' collection indices, not uniform price changes for every reference under those names. A collector still has to inspect the exact watch, condition and transaction before treating an index move as a sale price.
The quarter tells a different story
WatchCharts also reports that its Overall Market Index gained 1.4 per cent in the third quarter, its smallest quarterly rise since the second quarter of 2025. It attributes the slower headline partly to Rolex, which the report says carries more than half the index's weight and had its smallest quarterly gain in the current recovery. That weighting explains how a broad set of rising brands can coexist with a modest overall move. It is a feature of the basket's construction, rather than evidence that the smaller names have stopped attracting buyers.
Outside Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, WatchCharts says 21 of 25 tracked brands rose in the quarter. A. Lange & Söhne gained 4.3 per cent, Chopard 3.5 per cent, Vacheron Constantin 3.4 per cent and Breguet 3.3 per cent; Patek Philippe gained three per cent. This is where the report's argument becomes interesting for watch people. The strongest quarterly numbers in that selection were not all attached to the three names that tend to dominate auction chatter.
The report proposes that collectors have broadened their interests as they gain experience. That is a plausible interpretation, though the price indices alone cannot prove why somebody chose a Lange over a Rolex. They show observed price trends in WatchCharts' model, not a survey of motives. I would take the breadth of positive brand indices seriously, while resisting the urge to call it a settled shift in taste after one quarter. Markets can be enthusiastic and selective at the same time.
The limit of the signal
For someone weighing a purchase, the useful lesson is to look past the all-market number. September's flat index says little about a particular Roadster or Explorer, and a quarterly gain for an entire brand is still not a promise about the next listing. WatchCharts has provided a clearer map of where its tracked prices moved, and its strongest point may be the simplest: the headline can slow while plenty of the market underneath it keeps moving.
