Between December 2025 and May 2026, five of the 10 fastest-appreciating Rolex references on Bob’s Watches were smaller models. Pictured left is a two-tone Datejust 31 ref. 6827 with a fluted bezel, made in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Pictured right is a 26 mm gold Lady-Datejust ref. 6917 with a fluted bezel and tiger’s eye dial. This model also was made in the late ‘70s-1980s. (Photos courtesy of Bob’s Watches)
New York—Recent data from online luxury watch reseller Bob’s Watches backs up reports that have been circulating for the past few years: after years of taking a backseat to big models, small watches are back in style.
Or is it simply the case of a watch trend winding back around? Smaller watches were the norm for decades until the late ‘90s, when case sizes started to creep up; it’s only natural that the pendulum eventually swing back the other way.
Whatever the case may be, Paul Altieri, who bought Bob’s Watches from the original Bob (Bob Thompson) in 2010, is surprised at the shift.
“Five years ago, and before, watches were getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” he said in an interview with National Jeweler.
“It would take a football player to wear some of these watches.”
The trend toward larger timepieces included women too.
Altieri said he first made note of the trend about 20 years ago while on a family trip to Paris.
He saw women wearing watches that were 36 or 38 mm in diameter, which, at the time, were marketed and sold as men’s watches.
The trend eventually made its way to the United States.
“This [new] trend toward smaller watches, I never really bought into it, but what’s interesting now is, we’re looking at real data more than we ever did,” Altieri said.
What Bob’s Watches data shows is between December 2025 and May 2026, five of the 10 fastest-appreciating Rolex references were Rolex Datejust or Lady-Datejust models, sized between 26 and 31 mm.
The biggest gainer among smaller watches was the Rolex Datejust 31 ref. 6827. The average transaction value for the model jumped 68 percent in that six-month period, Bob’s Watches data shows.
The average transaction value for the Lady Datejust ref. 6917, a 26 mm watch that comes in steel, two-tone or gold, jumped 39 percent.
Rolex made the Lady Datejust ref. 179174 between the mid-2000s and the 2010s. It is a 26 mm stainless steel watch with an 18-karat white gold bezel and comes on either a Jubilee (pictured) or Oyster bracelet.
It increased 32 percent for the Lady Datejust ref. 179174 (pictured above), a 26 mm stainless steel watch with a fluted bezel in 18-karat white gold, and was up 27 percent for the Lady Datejust ref. 69173, a 26mm stainless steel and 18-karat yellow gold watch with a fluted bezel.
Rounding out the top five was the Lady Datejust ref. 69178.
The average transaction value for this reference, a 26 mm solid 18-karat gold watch that typically has a fluted bezel, increased 25 percent between December 2025 and May 2026 for Bob’s Watches.
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In that same six-month period, December 2025-May 2026, the price of gold also rose precipitously, peaking around $5,500 an ounce in January, according to Kitco.
Altieri said while the price of gold can affect prices in the secondhand watch market, it does not have a major influence.
“The world we live in, it’s demand driven. It’s all demand,” he said, and demand is expressed in price.
When models get hot on the secondhand market, prices go up.
“A lot of times, what we see is a model that’s average at best for a year or more, and all the sudden it takes off,” Altieri said, spurred either by a celebrity endorsement or an advertising campaign.
In this case, it seems like the smaller watch trend is due to a combination of factors, he said, and is a trend both men and women are embracing.
Altieri is happy to see it, especially if it means a more diverse customer base for his business.
“Our watch business is almost 80 percent men, so we love attracting women [buyers],” he said.
“Women represent 50 percent of the population, but men are an easier target to market to. Women are more sophisticated and there is more competition for their dollars.”
