Value retention rankings
Which watches actually hold their value — measured, not guessed. Every watch below is ranked by what it really sold for on eBay and Chrono24 against its list price. Sample sizes are shown, thin data is flagged, and the full methodology is on the page.
Of the 29 watches with verified sold-listing data in the lug²lug catalog right now, the strongest holder is the Trafford Watch Co Crossroads at 135% of list price on the used market, followed by the Vaer G2 Apocalypse GMT at 118%. At the other end, the Longines ELEGANT COLLECTION trades at just 28% of MSRP — a discount if you buy used, a haircut if you buy new. Retention here is a measured snapshot of sold prices, not a prediction — see the methodology below.
| # | Watch | Brand | MSRP | Sold avg | Retention | Trend | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Crossroads | Trafford Watch Co | $649 | $875 | 135% | Appreciating | 3 |
| 2 |  G2 Apocalypse GMT | Vaer | $399 | $470 | 118% | Appreciating | 1† |
| 3 |  HMS 003 | Baltic | $416 | $487 | 117% | Appreciating | 4 |
| 4 |  Manhattan Ultra Thin | Maen | $1,159 | $1,267 | 109% | Appreciating | 2† |
| 5 |  OLD SMITH 90-001os90001-agd-o-bk-sa | KUOE | $405 | $424 | 105% | Appreciating | 2† |
| 6 |  GTgt-42mm-azzurro | Zelos | $499 | $515 | 103% | Appreciating | 5 |
| 7 |  Leviathan | Phoibos | $309 | $315 | 102% | Appreciating | 15 |
| 8 |  Naos Großdatum | Sternglas | $323 | $321 | 99% | Stable | 10 |
| 9 |  Olympia SII | Lorier | $999 | $925 | 93% | Stable | 2† |
| 10 |  Aquascaphe Dual-Crown | Baltic | $724 | $664 | 92% | Stable | 17 |
| 11 |  Retrograph | Brew | $375 | $340 | 91% | Stable | 5 |
| 12 |  Khaki Field Mechanical | Hamilton | $725 | $654 | 90% | Stable | 17 |
| 13 |  Super Metric | Brew | $475 | $395 | 83% | Depreciating | 5 |
| 14 |  SUB 250T GMT | DOXA | $2,790 | $2,308 | 83% | Depreciating | 3 |
| 15 |  Bambino Version 7 | Orient | $330 | $260 | 79% | Depreciating | 19 |
| 16 |  G2 Pacific GMT | Vaer | $399 | $316 | 79% | Depreciating | 3 |
| 17 |  Presage Style60's | Seiko | $650 | $499 | 77% | Depreciating | 37 |
| 18 |  Daytimer | Marloe Watch Company | $699 | $532 | 76% | Depreciating | 1† |
| 19 |  Fortitude Lite | Astor + Banks | $650 | $490 | 75% | Depreciating | 5 |
| 20 |  Rivanera | Echo/Neutra | $1,810 | $1,350 | 75% | Depreciating | 1† |
| 21 |  Fortitude Pro | Astor + Banks | $675 | $481 | 71% | Depreciating | 4 |
| 22 |  C63 Sealander GMTC63-42AGM4-S00B0-B1 | Christopher Ward | $1,675 | $1,170 | 70% | Depreciating | 10 |
| 23 |  Khaki Field Auto | Hamilton | $845 | $529 | 63% | Depreciating | 26 |
| 24 |  PRX | Tissot | $850 | $421 | 50% | Depreciating | 46 |
| 25 |  Skindiver II Automatic23-S2A-001-RB1-BLK-LE1 | Wolbrook | $579 | $282 | 49% | Depreciating | 7 |
| 26 |  LONGINES SPIRIT ZULU TIMEL3.802.5.53.6 | Longines | $5,200 | $2,412 | 46% | Depreciating | 27 |
| 27 |  Adventure Sport JP 42mm Midnight Blue | Norqain | $3,471 | $1,380 | 40% | Depreciating | 3 |
| 28 |  LEGEND DIVERL3.764 | Longines | $3,850 | $1,479 | 38% | Depreciating | 17 |
| 29 |  ELEGANT COLLECTIONL4.310.4.79.6 | Longines | $2,500 | $708 | 28% | Depreciating | 2† |
† Fewer than 3 verified sales behind this average — treat the number as directional, not settled.
The flip side of the table above. These watches sell used for the smallest fraction of their list price — which makes them the worst watches to buy new and flip, and the best watches to buy used: someone else already paid the depreciation. Same verified sold-listing data, sorted the other way.
ELEGANT COLLECTION
LEGEND DIVER
Adventure Sport JP 42mm Midnight Blue
LONGINES SPIRIT ZULU TIME
Skindiver II Automatic
PRX
Khaki Field Auto
C63 Sealander GMT
Fortitude Pro
Fortitude Lite
Rivanera
Daytimer
Presage Style60's
Bambino Version 7
G2 Pacific GMT
What is your collection worth?
Add the watches you own and lug²lug tracks list price and used-market value for each one — the same sold-listing data behind this page, on your own watch box.
Where these numbers come from
Sold listings only. Each watch's secondary-market average comes from snapshots of completed eBay sold listings and Chrono24 sales — never asking prices, which routinely sit 20–40% above what watches actually trade for. Listings pass a relevance filter (correct model, not parts/straps/franken-builds) and a price-outlier rejection step before they count.
Retention = sold average ÷ list price. The MSRP is the current list price in the lug²lug catalog — the same number shown on each watch's spec page. When both eBay and Chrono24 have data, the average is weighted by sample size; when the two sources disagree by more than 2x (usually a mislabeled edition on the thin side), the deeper sample wins outright rather than averaging in noise.
Filters. Watches only rank with at least one verified sale, a list price of $200+, and a computed retention between 20% and 250% — outside that band the cause is almost always a data glitch (a bundled lot, a precious-metal variant matched against a steel MSRP, a mislabeled listing), not a real market signal. The trend column reflects where the sold average sits against list today: at or above MSRP reads as appreciating, within 15% as stable, below that as depreciating.
Coverage and cadence. 29 of the 9,444 watches in the catalog currently have verified sold-listing data — coverage grows as price checks run on more spec pages. Market snapshots refresh per watch as new checks run (cached up to 72 hours per source); this page recomputes the ranking once a day. Small samples are the honest weak spot: a watch with two sales has a noisy average, which is why sample sizes are printed and thin data is flagged rather than hidden.
This is indicative, not investment advice. Retention measures the recent past of a specific reference in mixed used condition. It does not predict future prices, and it is not a reason to buy a watch you don't want to wear.
- Price basis
- eBay sold + Chrono24 sales
- Formula
- sold avg ÷ list price × 100
- Sanity band
- 20% – 250%, MSRP ≥ $200
- Refresh
- ranking daily · snapshots ≤ 72 h
Want the market data for a specific watch? Every spec page has a live price checker against the same sources — start from the full catalog, or put two candidates head-to-head in the comparison tool.