Rolex

BeepWear lists 103 pre-owned Rolex watches, priced from $3,680 to $69,000 with a median of $17,500. Twenty-two are under $10,000, thirty-eight sit between $10,000 and $20,000, twenty-seven between $20,000 and $40,000, and sixteen are above $40,000. Forty-seven are all-steel, thirty-one are two-tone steel and gold, and twenty-five are solid gold or platinum. Every watch is inspected before listing and photographed as the actual piece you receive.

Which Rolex models are in stock? The collection is organised by model family. The largest is the Datejust, 36 pieces from $4,773 to $39,500 in 26 to 41mm. The Submariner follows with 21, from $9,995 to $53,000, including the Kermit, Hulk and Starbucks green references. There are eight GMT-Master IIs ($13,800 to $52,000) with Pepsi, Batgirl and Root Beer bezels, eight Day-Date Presidents ($23,000 to $64,500) in gold and platinum, eight Oyster Perpetuals ($3,680 to $12,000), eight Yacht-Masters ($13,500 to $48,000) and six Explorers ($7,590 to $15,800). Two Cosmograph Daytonas, two Sky-Dwellers, two Cellinis, a Pearlmaster and a Land-Dweller round out the list; each family page carries its own reference-by-reference notes.

What does a used Rolex cost? Less than a new one, in most cases, and far less than the waiting list implies for the steel sports models. Here the cheapest way in is a 26mm Oyster Perpetual at $3,680, and the under-$10,000 group of 22 watches is mostly 34mm and 36mm Oyster Perpetuals and Datejusts from the 1980s and 1990s, plus a 36mm Explorer 14270 and a 16610 Submariner. The $10,000 to $20,000 band, the biggest at 38 watches, is where the steel Datejust 41s, Submariners and Explorer IIs live. Above $20,000 the price is being paid for either a scarce reference (steel GMT-Masters, green Submariners) or precious metal, and above $40,000 almost entirely for gold.

Is a pre-owned Rolex a good buy? For most references, yes, and for two reasons. First, Rolex production runs are long and the watches are built to be serviced indefinitely, so a 1995 Datejust that has been looked after is mechanically the same proposition as a 2015 one at a lower price. Second, the steel sports models trade above retail on the secondary market precisely because they cannot be bought new on demand, which means a pre-owned one has already had its scarcity priced in and tends to hold value. The exception is a watch with replaced parts sold as original, which is what the inspection is for.

How can you tell a real Rolex from a fake? Not from a photograph, and not from any single feature. The tells that matter are inside: the movement, the case reference and serial engraved between the lugs (and, since the mid-2000s, the serial on the rehaut inside the crystal), the weight, and the finishing of the bracelet and clasp. Every watch here is opened and inspected before it is listed, and the reference and serial are checked against what Rolex made under that number. A price far below the market for the reference is the most reliable warning sign a buyer has from a distance.

What do the Rolex reference numbers tell you? The model, the material, the bezel and, roughly, the era. Four-digit references are the 1960s and 1970s, five-digit ones the late 1970s to the 2000s, six-digit ones modern production. Within a number, the first digits identify the model line (116 and 126 for modern Datejusts and sports models, 228 for the Day-Date 40) and the last two the metal and bezel: 00 smooth steel, 13 two-tone yellow, 18 yellow gold, 19 white gold, 06 platinum. Letter suffixes describe the bezel or dial as Rolex made it: LV for a green bezel, LN for black, BLRO for blue and red, RBR for a factory diamond bezel.

Steel, two-tone or gold? Steel is the working-watch choice and the bulk of what people search for; 47 of the 103 are all-steel. Two-tone, which Rolex calls Rolesor, adds a gold bezel and centre links and is the largest group among the Datejusts and older Submariners, 31 pieces in all. Solid gold and platinum are 25 pieces, concentrated in the Day-Date, which has never been made in steel, and in the gold Submariners, GMT-Masters and Yacht-Masters. Gold content sets a floor under every price in that group.

How does BeepWear list and ship these? Every Rolex is pre-owned, inspected before listing, and photographed as the actual item you will receive. Stock is one of a kind, so a sold listing comes down rather than lingering. Orders ship insured within the United States, and the authenticity guarantee, returns policy and warranty terms each have their own page.

Related: Rolex Daytona, Rolex Sky-Dweller, vintage Rolex