Rolex Submariner / GMT - Where do sensible prices start ?

Exactly 2 years ago I was asked to help a family member locate a S/S Rolex Daytona for an important birthday. With some helpful advice on here, I eventually sourced a 2016 'full set' 116520 white dial for £10.5k It was acquired for everyday wear, which it has enjoyed, and the recipient was highly delighted - and even more so now it is probably worth £15k.

However, he is now a bit more reluctant to wear it all the time and has asked for advice on a more usable Rolex sports model for day-to-day, and is quite keen on a S/S Sub or a S/S GMT.

The question is, where do sensible prices start for a good honest watch in excellent order? Lots of choice at £5-6k, but is £3-4k realistic?
He might accept the head only as it will probably go on a rubber strap.

thanks

It depends which variant he is after but there have been several instances of late where people have walked in to ADs and walked out with a new SS sub no date and SS GMT with no wait despite all the hype you read about. Therefore my first port of call would be ADs that are failrly local to me.

That being said if hes after a hulk or batman its a totally different story.

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Originally Posted by Geneve

Exactly 2 years ago I was asked to help a family member locate a S/S Rolex Daytona for an important birthday. With some helpful advice on here, I eventually sourced a 2016 'full set' 116520 white dial for £10.5k It was acquired for everyday wear, which it has enjoyed, and the recipient was highly delighted - and even more so now it is probably worth £15k.

However, he is now a bit more reluctant to wear it all the time and has asked for advice on a more usable Rolex sports model for day-to-day, and is quite keen on a S/S Sub or a S/S GMT.

The question is, where do sensible prices start for a good honest watch in excellent order? Lots of choice at £5-6k, but is £3-4k realistic?
He might accept the head only as it will probably go on a rubber strap.

thanks

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If he wants one at 2K below the going rate why don't you ask him if he'd sell his Daytona at 2K below the going rate.

Surely an Explorer 2 might be a better option. Same features as a GMT (pretty much) and can be found for Sub £4K.

Otherwise a nice 16700 or 16710 for around £6k for a bare watch.

Didn’t know you were related to Sahara.

Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Geneve

The question is, where do sensible prices start for a good honest watch in excellent order? Lots of choice at £5-6k, but is £3-4k realistic?
He might accept the head only as it will probably go on a rubber strap.

thanks

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The simple answer is no.

The £3-4K sub/gmt ship has well and truly sailed.

Explorers and explorer IIs are toward the £4K mark now and probably over that soon.

Agree about the Explorer 2 - that's what I wear day to day.

But his query related an entry level Sub or GMT

What happens if he does acquire a cheap Sub and it doubles in price, will that become too costly to wear?

Unless you find a desperado most Sub/GMT's will be high £4k+..

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Originally Posted by Geneve

Agree about the Explorer 2 - that's what I wear day to day.

But his query related an entry level Sub or GMT

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In which case no. Unless it's moody or a bitsa.

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Originally Posted by Dave+63

The simple answer is no.

The £3-4K sub/gmt ship has well and truly sailed.

Explorers and explorer IIs are toward the £4K mark now and probably over that soon.

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Surely a good/v good full set Explorer II is over £4K these days - I wish they were much cheaper, as Id like to add a serviced white dial. A loose one (that may or may not need a service) don’t seem to be a million miles away from there from a quick look!

The £4k full set Exp 2 ship has also sailed if talking dealer prices

Where are these 3-4K subs and GMT’s?


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Originally Posted by LeBowl

Where are these 3-4K subs and GMT’s?


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They'll be back if the far Eastern economies take a spanking sometime!

How about a lovely explorer 1? Since he already has a ‘tool’ watch...

He's probably be better off looking at the tudor range for the money he has. He can walk away with a tudor gmt under his budget today (albeit still at a premium over rrp).
However given the financial shocks the near future seems to hold (brexit, whatever is going on in china, the downturn in the stock markets) I'd be holding on to my money and waiting to see what effect it has on luxury goods prices, the 4k GMT may be just around the corner, or not - who knows.

IMO your relative should just stick to wearing his Daytona - 15K is the price a dealer would charge you so if he traded it in he could expect significantly less........so in real terms he has done well but I don't think the increase in value is sufficient to warrant a decision not to wear the watch.......but it his watch and his decision to make. If he has a budget of 3-4K then, as others have said, he is looking at an Explorer or Explorer II......and the best examples are now north of 4k. Mike Wood had a GMTII-C for sale recently (on a rubber strap) for 4.5K but not seen other examples at that price for sometime. I hope that you manage to get something sorted. Good luck.

I'd be looking at the Explorer 1 or if the Sub/ GMT style is desired then the Explorer 2.

Thanks for all of that.

He's very pleased with his Daytona, and just made the point that he may not want to wear it all the time and had been thinking of an entry level Sub or GMT for other occasions.

Don't think he has a specific budget, but said that asking prices for Subs seem to start at c.£4.5k and GMTs at c.£5.5k. His query was because, for not much more, nearly new Subs with box and papers are around £6k.

My preference would be the Explorer II, but it's not for me.

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Originally Posted by Dave+63

The simple answer is no.

The £3-4K sub/gmt ship has well and truly sailed.

Explorers and explorer IIs are toward the £4K mark now and probably over that soon.

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Where can you find Explorer 2’s at the £4K level? Cheapest I can see are around £5k on Chrono24. Am I looking in the wrong place?


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I checked yesterday and there are probably 20 EXII 16570 at or below 4k in Chrono24.

Haywood has got one for £4,199

https://www.miltonaires.com/product/7393

It may be possible to pick one up privately for around £4K though.

The five digit explorers are generally a little cheaper than the explorer II too.

Like this one.

https://www.miltonaires.com/product/7440

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Originally Posted by Raffe

I checked yesterday and there are probably 20 EXII 16570 at or below 4k in Chrono24.

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Sorry, I was leaving looking for a white dial with box and papers. £6k seems to be the starting price...


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Originally Posted by JJ Mclure

Sorry, I was leaving looking for a white dial with box and papers. £6k seems to be the starting price...


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That must be expensive box and papers. I bought a white dial 16570 without for under £3,400 this week.

I’ll admit to paying a very reputable dealer a bit over £5k for a 2007 3185 polar with box and papers and Dec 18 Rolex service. I paid a premium, I know, for the comfort of the service and dealer.

£3400 is very good for a loose one, private sale though?

I think high 4s from your average dealer with box and papers but no obvious recent service is doable.

Low to mid 4s for a black one for sure. Miltonaires has a couple of 3186s for high 4s, which seem a bargain to me from such a good dealer.

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Originally Posted by Berty234

I’ll admit to paying a very reputable dealer a bit over £5k for a 2007 3185 polar with box and papers and Dec 18 Rolex service. I paid a premium, I know, for the comfort of the service and dealer.

£3400 is very good for a loose one, private sale though?

I think high 4s from your average dealer with box and papers but no obvious recent service is doable.

Low to mid 4s for a black one for sure. Miltonaires has a couple of 3186s for high 4s, which seem a bargain to me from such a good dealer.

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I think it was a fair price given age and condition.

I think your prices are off, there is a very nice black 16570 with box and warranty papers on SC which has been bumped for a few weeks at £3,800 without sale.

The Explorer II in SC isn't for sale, the owner is looking for an interesting trade. He said he's turned down purchase offers. Also, I think it doesn't have the original warranty card and is the slightly less popular black dial.

From my limited market research 'asking prices' roughly seem to start from:
- Explorer II - c.£3.5k - £4.5k
- Subs - £4.5k - £5.5k
- GMTs (Coke/Pepsi) - £5.5k - £6.5k

In all cases, dealer prices start at the higher end, and B&P 'full sets' can add about 25%. Factors such as condition, ownership history, originality, Rolex service history, inclusion of bracelet, location, private sales, etc, all have a +/- influence on the true value.

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Originally Posted by Geneve

The Explorer II in SC isn't for sale, the owner is looking for an interesting trade. He said he's turned down purchase offers. Also, I think it doesn't have the original warranty card and is the slightly less popular black dial.

From my limited market research 'asking prices' roughly seem to start from:
- Explorer II - c.£3.5k - £4.5k
- Subs - £4.5k - £5.5k
- GMTs (Coke/Pepsi) - £5.5k - £6.5k

In all cases, dealer prices start at the higher end, and B&P 'full sets' can add about 25%. Factors such as condition, ownership history, originality, Rolex service history, inclusion of bracelet, location, private sales, etc, all have a +/- influence on the true value.

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I think that’s a very accurate summary, lower end of those scales being a real bargain and the higher with b&p premium being dealer/buy the seller comfort prices

As others have said, try a local AD and you might get lucky and bag a new ND sub for retail. I've not seen any non bi metal GMT in an AD for a very long time.

If there is a concern about wearing the value I'd agree that tudor would be a great place to look too, fantastic watches for the money.

2015!

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Originally Posted by Dave+63

The simple answer is no.

The £3-4K sub/gmt ship has well and truly sailed.

Explorers and explorer IIs are toward the £4K mark now and probably over that soon.

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Very true 3/4K won’t get you much in the Rolex world these days !
Alaw [emoji108]


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That's exactly what I did two weeks ago, tried a couple of Dealers close to me and they laughed, tried a bit further afield and actually got someone helpful- picking my ND up this week :-)

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Originally Posted by MarkR

As others have said, try a local AD and you might get lucky and bag a new ND sub for retail. I've not seen any non bi metal GMT in an AD for a very long time.

If there is a concern about wearing the value I'd agree that tudor would be a great place to look too, fantastic watches for the money.

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