A recent article in Robb Report detailed a reporter’s quest to buy a new Rolex Daytona at one of the brand’s authorized dealers (AD) in New York City – a futile pursuit as you might imagine, but to writer Allan Farmelo’s obvious horror, he wasn’t even able to get his name onto a waiting list for the highly coveted watch. In fact, one AD told him that even if he could do so, the wait time would be 15 years. Even by current market standards, this seems absurd and extreme. Those who want to purchase this watch will likely have one option, browse the pre-owned Rolex Daytona market to find one in-stock. “I walked into to four Rolex authorized dealers in Manhattan, asked about buying a new Daytona, and was universally shot down and offered no hope,” Farmelo recounts. “Three of the Rolex salespeople I spoke with said there was no chance I’d get a brand new Daytona, with the fourth citing a curiously specific 15-year wait.”
While Rolex’s official retail price for the current Rolex 126500 Daytona is $15,100, pre-owned Rolex Daytona examples of the nearly unobtainable timepiece go for $30,000 or more, a significant premium. However, the retail price is purely arbitrary since no such watches are actually available. Many prospective buyers turn to a Rolex Daytona 126500 review to understand the watch’s features and value proposition before pursuing this highly sought-after model.
While Farmelo was not even able to be added to the waitlist, he was told by one Rolex AD that she would “register his interest,” a seemingly meaningless phrase. Asked how many people “register their interest” in a Daytona, the AD replied between 50 and 100 people per day. “Taking the mid-range estimate of 75-inquiries-per-day, that’s 27,375 people registering their interest per year – at just one Rolex authorized dealer.”
The futility of his retail Daytona search led Farmelo to wonder if Rolex isn’t intentionally restricting access to it’s new pieces in order to “leverage sales of its certified pre-owned models,” a branch of the business Rolex only got into in 2022. “By limiting access to their entire catalog at retail, Rolex can now point all its customers to the pre-owned models just across the room,” he sums up. As vintage watch expert, Eric Wind told Robb Report, “Ferrari makes more money from certified pre-owned models than new ones, so perhaps Rolex feels it is a great revenue source or, at least, can help their authorized retailers make more money.”
All of this is of course an excellent argument for buying a pre-owned Daytona when you find the piece you want at an attractive price – just make sure there’s a bulletproof authenticity guarantee, such as is offered by Bob’s Watches and nearly no-one else in the Wild West-style frontier that buying a pre-owned Rolex has become. For example, the beautiful, 2024 Ref. 126500 we have listed at just $28,995 (cash wire price), without a 15-year wait. And it comes with a money-back guarantee. There are so many current and discontinued offerings to choose from. To make an informed decision, start by conducting a thorough Rolex Daytona review of available models before considering a pre-owned purchase.
“Daytonas, especially the steel models, have always been an excellent investment,” notes says Bob’s Watches Founder and CEO Paul Altieri, one of the world’s top Rolex collectors. “Properly cared for, they won’t lose any of their value if you choose to wear it as well. This makes them much more appealing than lots of other high-dollar collectibles. However, anything can happen in 15 years, and even then Rolex offers no guarantees you’ll get one. It’s also worth looking at vintage steel models, which are just and cool and can often go for significantly less.”
