A Luxury Watch You Should Consider Selling Has Exceptional Resale Value In 2025

In the world of watch wear, the Rolex brand is automatically known as a luxury item. The GMT-Master II lives up to this reputation, which goes back to the 1950s. In those days, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was how professional pilots managed to communicate with each other across time zones. Airline Pan American Airways asked Rolex to come up with a watch their pilots could wear displaying several time zones at the same time, and the GMT-Master was born in 1954. So popular was this watch, that legendary actor Marlon Brando was known to own one in the classic Francis Ford Coppola film "Apocalypse Now." The most expensive GMT-Master for sale on WatchCharts is the Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 116759SA with a market value, as of July 2025, of $100,162.

While there have been a few iterations of this watch made by Rolex over the years — new versions were introduced in 1959 up into the late 2000s — contemporary versions even beyond the one mentioned above are still worth a lot of money on the resale market. The GMT-Master II, discontinued in 2018, is a perfect example of this. A GMT-Master II is just one of those watches you may have lying around that are worth an unbelievable sum of money and not even know it. According to GQ Magazine, the aforementioned GMT-Master owned by Marlon Brando was auctioned off in 2019 for a colossal $1.95 million. In 2023, the watch was again placed on auction, where it sold for just over $5.1 million. While your watch may not have that sort of value — Brando self-inscribed his name into the caseback — a GMT-Master II is still valuable. 

Of course, authenticity is going to be a major factor in determining the value of your GMT-Master II. A counterfeit or knock-off watch, aside from not being worth anything close to what you might expect, could land you in hot water. According to Sevens Legal Criminal Lawyers, selling counterfeit goods is a federal offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison for your first offence. While that assumes you were aware you were selling a counterfeit item, it's going to be an awkward conversation with the police you might prefer to avoid.

According to Le Lion D'or, there are certain tells with luxury watches that may tip you off as to whether your watch is the real deal or not. Factors like weight, quality, inscriptions, and operational movement of the watch will tell a story. The modern versions of the GMT-Master II are made of steel, and as a result, should be heavier than your everyday dimestore watch. Where the hands are concerned, the GMT hand should always land between the minute and the hour hand, and should never be nearer to the dial. If anything related to the design, including inscriptions, are off — misspellings or smudged engravings, for example — you're probably not working with a real GMT-Master II. Also, pay attention to the color of your watch dials, as they can be another big give away. 

Perusing WatchCharts reveals there are several iterations of the GMT-Master II for sale on the secondary market. While the average cost of a GMT-Master is around $18,000 today, their resale value can start at a low of $11,000 to a high of $100,000.  It's understandable to think you should hold on to the watch longer and potentially earn more on the resale market in the future. After all, with time, even a vintage swatch can be worth more than you originally purchased it for.

However, WatchCharts also gives the GMT-Master a high score of 83 out of 100 for an extreme risk of depreciation. In other words, the longer you hold on to it, the better chance you'll lose resale value versus gain it. Just in the last year, from July 29th, 2024 to July 28th, 2025, the Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 116759SA dropped in value from $113,964 to its current price of $100,692. So if you are in possession of a GMT-Master II, you should take advantage of the opportunity to offload it now, as there's no guarantee you'll be able to get more for it in the future. If you're a buyer and don't have thousands to spare, you should consider an alternative to the GMT-Master that's nearly identical but cheaper.