There are many reasons as to exactly why the Rolex Day-Date makes such an enticing pre-owned purchase. The first and foremost is usability. Different from most of their steel motion models, Rolex has never really restricted the supply of the President to their retail network, which means those who want one have had some problems locating a new model. As a result, a significant number of Rolex presidential watches enter the secondary market quite frequently and retailers are not really lacking in pushing second-hand prices above retail prices.
Besides, the fake Rolex Day-Date’s stubborn choice of only precious metal construction is another explanation. The big majority of brand-new watches immediately depreciate the moment that you leave the store with them, with solid gold or platinum models often taking the largest hit in value. Since precious metal watches are much more expensive than stainless steel watches, there are far fewer buyers for them, resulting in significantly less demand in the second-hand market than in the less expensive stainless steel replica watches. This means you often have a great chance of finding a used Rolex CEO at a significant discount compared to the original retail price.
And thirdly, the Day-Date’s iconic aesthetics have to be taken into account. There have been several generations of the Rolex President over the last 60+ years. With the looks more or less cemented from the get-go, new references have generally been announced to introduce a noteworthy upgrade to the watch’s movement instead of any major outward design alterations.
Take a model from the original series and put it next to a modern example and you’ll see relatively small differences in style, despite the massive upgrades and improvements that have taken place over the past few years. So if you can get a used watch that’s indistinguishable from the latest model for a fraction of the price, why not?
