What's going on?

Rolex announced that it�s upping production to meet red-hot demand.

What does this mean?

We regular folk might be struggling to keep our heads above water � but we can still pity poor fund managers who can�t get their hands on fancy Rolex timepieces. See, demand�s so strong that the million or so watches the firm produces every year isn�t cutting it, and that means authorized sellers� waitlists are getting increasingly unwieldy. But the world�s biggest maker of high-end watches is planning to turn the situation into a win-win: Rolex is creating three temporary Swiss production facilities, where it�s aiming to start churning out watches in 2025 � in addition to existing plans to build a billion-dollar production site nearby. For high-rollers, that means more fancy watches. And for Rolex, it means that annual sales � now estimated at $9 billion � might keep ticking upward.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Second-hand second hand.
All this unmet demand has got second-hand watches selling far above retail prices � so much so that they�re rivaling stocks as the smart money�s top asset class. Case in point: a basket of pre-owned watch models from luxury Swiss brands has grown at more than twice the rate of the S&P 500 since August 2018. One independent consulting firm even forecast that used luxury watch sales could overtake the primary retail market by 2033, with sales hitting as high as $85 billion.

For you personally: Luxury liftoff.
This hot-to-touch demand tallies well with the outlook for the whole luxury sector, which is forecast to keep cruising high after two years of strong sales. And while China�s bounceback has been slow so far, experts are hopeful it�ll bring a tidy bump in the region, where market penetration still has room to grow. In short, you may not be strapping a Daytona on your wrist anytime soon � but it could be worth adding some luxury heavyweights (think LVMH and Herm�s) to your portfolios.