Watch Appraisal From Photos, Free and Without Commitment

Watch values at auction by maker in 2025

Watches by the great makers sold at auction in 2025 for between €2,100 and CHF 2,722,000. The low end is a Longines pocket watch in 18 carat gold that no longer ran, sold in Nice in October 2025. The high end is a Patek Philippe reference 3448 known as the "Padellone", sold in Geneva in May 2025.

The table gives one entry result and one high result for each maker and for antique pocket watches. Amounts in CHF come from Geneva sales and are in Swiss francs.

These results sit in a market that slowed in 2025. Swiss watch exports fell 1.7% to CHF 25.6 billion, and exports of watches priced above CHF 3,000 fell 1.9%. The value of your own watch depends on its exact reference and its condition. Send your photos through the valuation request to have it placed in these ranges.

Watch appraisal criteria: reference, dial, case, service and papers

Five criteria set a watch appraisal: the reference, the dial, the case, the service history and the papers. Two Rolex Day-Date watches of the same reference 1803 sold in Geneva in May 2025. The first sold for CHF 19,050. The second had a lacquered "Stella" dial and sold for CHF 88,900.

• The reference is the model number the maker engraves on the case or prints on the papers. Two Cosmograph Daytona watches of reference 6239 sold in May 2025 for CHF 35,560 and CHF 508,000. The higher price went to the watch with a "Paul Newman" dial.
• The originality of the dial and hands counts next. In both pairs above, buyers paid the higher price for the watch with the named dial. A specialist compares the dial and hands with the parts the maker fitted to that reference.
• The case shows its condition at the edges and in the engraved numbers. Heavy polishing removes the original bevels.
• The service history matters to a buyer. The Longines pocket watch sold for €2,100 in October 2025 was catalogued as not running and in need of a service.
• The papers (certificate, invoice, box) confirm the history of the watch. For a Longines more than ten years old, the maker issues an extract from the archives for CHF 120 in four to five weeks. Longines gives no estimate of the value of an antique watch.

Identifying the watch: reference, serial, calibre and hallmarks

A specialist identifies a watch and its date from the reference, the serial number, the calibre and the hallmarks. The numbers inside the caseback can differ from the reference on the papers. A Daytona catalogued as reference 16523 had a caseback stamped 16500 and sold for CHF 17,780 in May 2025. A GMT-Master reference 6542 with II.1958 stamped inside its caseback sold for CHF 76,200 in the same sale.

On a gold case, the hallmarks give the metal and often the country. Switzerland requires an official test and hallmark on every watch case in gold, silver, platinum or palladium sold there. The official Swiss hallmark is the St Bernard's head.

Appraisal for sale and appraisal for insurance

An auction estimate states the likely hammer price; an insurance appraisal states the cost of replacing the watch at retail, which is higher. The fair market value is the price a willing buyer and a willing seller agree, both knowing the relevant facts. The retail replacement value adds the retailer's markup and overheads. An insurance figure on file for your watch is a poor guide to its result at auction. Our guide to the indicative estimate and the formal appraisal sets out the difference.

Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe and Cartier models in recent sales

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona appeared more often than any other model in the Geneva sale of May 2025. The same sale held Day-Date, Submariner and GMT-Master watches. A GMT-Master II reference 126710BLNR sold for CHF 20,320 in March 2025.

At Omega, two Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional watches sold for CHF 15,240 and CHF 27,940 in March 2025. At Patek Philippe, the Nautilus and the Aquanaut recur: a Nautilus reference 5712/1A sold for CHF 139,700 in May 2025. Both Geneva sales included Cartier shaped watches. The Tonneau sold for CHF 15,240 in March, and a Tank Cintrée for CHF 50,800 in May. Our guide to collector watches at auction covers each maker in detail.

The free valuation and the sale at LLB Auction

Lyna Brahami is Associate Specialist at LLB Auction and answers each valuation request within 48 working hours. The valuation from photos is free and confidential. It carries no obligation to sell. Before any sale, the specialist examines the watch in person.

If you decide to sell, you sign a consignment contract that sets the agreed reserve and commission. The house photographs the watch and writes its catalogue entry after research. It sells the watch online on llb-auction.com, and each sale is listed on Interenchères. The buyer pays the house. The house then settles the proceeds with you and sends a statement. The result then appears in the house's published results. The buyer's premium is stated in the conditions of each sale.

Photos to send

Send a sharp photograph of each of these:

1. the dial, face on, in daylight;
2. the caseback and its engravings;
3. the reference and serial numbers engraved on the case;
4. the hallmarks of a gold case;
5. the movement, if a watchmaker can open the case;
6. the box, the papers and the service invoices.

Have a watchmaker open the case so that it is not scratched.

Sending a watch from the United States or the United Kingdom

A strap in alligator or crocodile leather falls under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and may not leave the country of sale without a CITES export permit. Before shipping a watch out of the country of sale, an auction house may need to retain its strap. In the United States, the personal effects exemption covers up to four crocodilian items that you wear or carry in your own luggage for personal use. A watch shipped separately for sale falls outside it. Keep an exotic leather strap at home and ship the watch head with its buckle.

Sources:

• Phillips, The Geneva Watch Auction: XXI, results of the sale concluded 11 May 2025.
• Phillips, Phillips Watches Online Auction: The Geneva Sessions Spring 2025, results of the sale concluded 12 March 2025.
• Millon Riviera, L'écrin niçois, lot 370, Longines, sale of 29 October 2025.
• Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, Swiss watch exports in 2025, 29 January 2026.
• Longines, History of my watch, accessed 5 November 2026.
• Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (Switzerland), Contrôle et poinçonnement officiel, accessed 5 November 2026.
• Internal Revenue Service, Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property, accessed 5 November 2026.
• La Jolla Gem Appraisal, Understanding the Difference in Value for Different Jewelry Appraisal Purposes, accessed 5 November 2026.
• Phillips, Geneva Guide for Prospective Buyers: Watches, effective 12 April 2026.
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 50 CFR 23.15, personal and household effects, up to date as of 3 November 2026.