Rolex Submariner Prices: What They Actually Sell For
A new steel Rolex Submariner lists for roughly $10,000 to $12,000 in the United States as of October 2026, but almost nobody pays that number, because authorized dealers rarely have the watch to sell. On the secondary market the same watches trade for about $11,500 to $17,500 in the steel references, and the spread inside that range comes from a short list of things you can check: the exact reference, whether the box and papers are with it, how much the case has been polished, the dial, and the year. This guide gives current retail and pre-owned ranges for each important reference, and then explains what moves a particular watch toward the top or bottom of its range.
Why there are two prices for every Submariner
Rolex sets a US retail list price, and the Submariner has one of the best-known list prices in the industry. In January 2026 Rolex raised prices across the line. Reporting on the increase put the steel Submariner Date (reference 126610LN) at $11,350, up about 4.4 percent, and the no-date Submariner (reference 124060) at $10,050, which pushed it past $10,000 for the first time. A second adjustment on June 1, 2026 touched some gold and two-tone references. Treat any list price as a snapshot and confirm it with an authorized dealer.
The second price is what the watch sells for between private parties and dealers. For steel Submariners it has sat above retail for years, because demand has run ahead of what Rolex ships to its retailers. One aggregator tracking the 126610LN showed a market price near $14,600 and an average sale price a little over $15,700 across 60 days, against that $11,350 list price, a premium of roughly 30 to 40 percent depending on who is measuring. Other sources put the premium lower or higher, and that disagreement is normal. The honest way to read it is as a range, and the ranges below are given that way.
Two other prices exist and are worth keeping apart. An insurance replacement value is usually tied to retail. A dealer's trade-in offer is lower than either, because the dealer has to resell at a profit. Our guide "Watch and Rolex Appraisal Explained" covers that difference in full, so this page sticks to what buyers and sellers actually see in listings and completed sales.
Current Submariner prices at a glance
All figures are US dollars, as of October 2026. Retail figures are January 2026 list prices as reported by watch-industry price trackers, with the later June adjustment noted where a source reported one. Pre-owned figures are ranges taken from dealer and aggregator listings and guides for watches with box and papers in good condition. They are not offers, and they are not guarantees.
| Reference | What it is | Retail (Jan. 2026) | Pre-owned range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 124060 | Steel, no date, black dial, 41mm | $10,050 | $11,500 to $13,500 |
| 126610LN | Steel, date, black dial and bezel, 41mm | $11,350 | $13,000 to $16,500 |
| 126610LV | Steel, date, green bezel, black dial, 41mm | $11,900 | $13,000 to $17,500 |
| 126613LB | Steel and yellow gold, blue dial and bezel | $18,900 (a June report lists $19,450) | sources disagree, from about $14,000 to $25,000 |
| 126618 | Yellow gold, black or blue | about $48,600 to $50,900 | about $42,000 to $55,000 |
| 126619LB | White gold, blue bezel, black dial | $52,100 | discounted listings in the high $30,000s up to $48,000 and above |
Three notes on that table. First, the steel rows are the tightest, because there are many sales. A 126610LN with box and papers in good condition most often sits in the low to mid teens, and unworn examples price higher still. Second, the gold and two-tone rows are wide because far fewer sell, and a few listings pull the range around. Third, the sources that publish these ranges do not always agree. One dealer guide showed the 126610LN at $13,000 to $14,500 in June, another showed $15,000 to $16,300. Both could be right at different moments and in different conditions. When the spread between sources is large, believe the spread.
The 126610LV, nicknamed "Starbucks" for its green bezel and black dial, has typically asked a little more than the black version, which is why its range stretches higher. The 124060 is the entry point: it drops the date window and the cyclops lens, has a cleaner dial, and is the lowest-priced current Submariner in both retail and pre-owned terms.
Understanding the current generation
All of the references above belong to the generation Rolex introduced in 2020. The case grew from 40mm to 41mm, the lugs were refined, and the movements are the caliber 3230 in the no-date and the caliber 3235 in the date models, both with a 70-hour power reserve. The bezel is Cerachrom ceramic, which does not fade the way older aluminum inserts do.
That matters for price in one specific way. Because the generation is only a few years old, nearly every example is in good shape, and the condition spread between a "good" one and an "excellent" one is narrow. What separates prices instead is completeness and whether the watch is unworn. Aggregators track unworn examples with stickers as a separate and higher tier, and the premium over a worn example of the same reference can be a couple of thousand dollars.
Previous generations and what they sell for
Older Submariners are not simply cheaper. Some of them are worth more, and the price depends on which reference you are looking at.
| Reference | Years | What it is | Typical pre-owned range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 126610LN and 124060 | 2020 to present | 41mm ceramic, see above | see table above |
| 114060 | about 2012 to 2020 | Steel no-date, 40mm, ceramic bezel | $9,000 to $12,000 |
| 116610LN | 2010 to 2020 | Steel date, 40mm, ceramic bezel | $10,000 to $12,500 |
| 116610LV ("Hulk") | 2010 to 2020 | Steel date, green dial and green ceramic bezel | $15,000 to $25,000 |
| 16610 | 1988 to 2010 | Steel date, aluminum bezel | $9,000 to $15,500 |
| 14060 and 14060M | 1990 to the 2000s | Steel no-date, aluminum bezel | $8,000 to $13,000 |
| 16800 | about 1979 to 1988 | First sapphire-crystal date model | $10,500 to $15,000 |
| 1680 | about 1969 to 1980 | First date Submariner | $10,500 to $35,000, "Red Sub" from about $18,000 |
| 5512 and 5513 | 1962 to 1989 | Steel no-date, aluminum bezel | $16,500 to $40,000 and up |
The most surprising row for a new buyer is the 116610LN. The generation before the current one is cheaper than the watch that replaced it, even though it is a very similar watch, because the newer one has more power reserve, a larger case and still arrives at retail. A buyer who does not mind the older 40mm case and the earlier movement can often save a meaningful amount. The 116610LV "Hulk" goes the other way. It was discontinued in 2020, and the dealers and guides that track it generally list it above the newer green-bezel watch.
The vintage references sit in a different market altogether. The 5513, produced from the early 1960s into 1989, is the longest-running Submariner, and its prices spread from the mid-teens of thousands into the tens of thousands depending on dial. Early "gilt" dials, the ones printed in gold rather than white, can cost $40,000 or more. The 1680, the first Submariner with a date, originally sold for a few hundred dollars and now trades from about $10,500 up toward $35,000. Prices for these watches are driven more by dial originality and condition than by the year printed on the paper, and they should be judged by someone who has handled many of them.
At the very top, the earliest Submariners from the 1950s, the "Big Crown" references 6200, 6204 and 6205, have been listed in guides at $100,000 and well above. They are a separate subject and a separate budget.
What moves the price of an individual watch
The ranges above are wide on purpose. Here is what pushes a specific watch around inside its range, roughly in order of how much it matters.
Box and papers. A full set means the original box, the warranty card, the hang tags and the booklets. For a current Submariner the difference between a full set and a watch alone is commonly priced in, and for a vintage reference the papers are rarer and more valuable still. The warranty card matters most of all. Rolex states that its five-year international guarantee is valid only if the watch was sold by an Official Rolex Retailer and the card was fully completed by that retailer at the time of purchase. A card with the correct serial number and a date is documentation that the watch passed through the official channel. A blank or stamped-but-unmatched card is not worth much.
Condition and polishing. Wear is expected and priced in. Polishing is different, because it removes metal and rounds the sharp edges Rolex puts on the lugs and case flanks. Collectors penalize it, and on vintage watches the penalty can be severe. On a current Submariner, which few owners have had polished, check the lug edges and bracelet for blurring all the same.
Unworn status. A watch that has never been worn and still carries its protective stickers sells at a premium to a worn one of the same reference. Buyers of unworn watches are paying for the absence of any history, and for the warranty period running from the original purchase date. The date on the warranty card determines how much of the five years is left.
Dial and bezel details. On modern watches this is mostly about which variant you have: black or green, date or no date. On older watches it gets intricate. Tritium and lume plots, the printing on the dial, the text style, and whether the dial and hands are original to the watch all feed price. A replaced dial, even a genuine Rolex one, usually lowers the value of a collectible reference.
Year of production. For the current generation, the year matters mainly through warranty and through the minor specification changes within a reference. For vintage watches the year matters because production runs were small and specific changes, like the move from one dial type to another, define which examples are rare. Our companion guide "Rolex Serial Numbers: How to Look One Up" covers dating a particular watch, which is where to begin before any pricing conversation.
Where and how it is sold. A dealer with a warranty and a return policy will price above a private seller with neither. An auction sets the price by competition on the day, and a live auction shows the watch in motion.
How prices have moved
Steel Submariner prices have not moved in a straight line. One aggregator's history for the 126610LN shows the reference peaking near $18,000 in early 2022, falling to roughly $13,000 by late 2023, and settling in the $13,000 to $15,500 range afterward. The June 2026 retail adjustment and the January 2026 increase moved the floor under those prices, since a higher retail price makes the alternative of waiting for an authorized dealer slightly less attractive.
For anyone buying to hold, the useful conclusion is narrow. Submariner prices have been resilient compared to most watches, and they have also fallen from a peak. Our guide "Do Rolex Watches Hold Their Value?" covers that question in depth, and "What Drives the Resale Value of a Luxury Watch" covers the characteristics that apply across brands. This page is about the price today.
How to find the real price of the watch in front of you
The practical method is the same for any reference and works for a buyer or a seller.
- Identify the exact reference from the case, which is engraved at the 12 o'clock side between the lugs, and confirm the serial number on the rehaut matches the paperwork.
- Pull completed sales or recent listings for that reference only, in the same condition and completeness. A 126610LN with papers and a 126610LN without are two different comparisons.
- Throw out the highest and lowest outliers and look at where the middle of the group sits.
- Adjust for the things in the section above: polishing, unworn status, box and papers, and any replaced parts.
- Compare the result to the retail price and the date of the last Rolex increase, to understand whether the premium you are seeing is large or small.
The result is a range, which is the correct answer. A watch seller who quotes a single exact number before looking at the watch is guessing.
Seeing the watch before the price is set
Many of the questions above are visual. Whether the lug edges are crisp, whether the serial on the rehaut is cleanly engraved, whether the warranty card matches the serial, and whether the bracelet is tight are all easier to judge when the watch is held up and turned on camera. Ziv Tamir of Rocks On Clocks LLC in Miami, known on Instagram as "Ziv the Watch Guy," goes live on ShopBidz selling Rolex and luxury watches, which makes ShopBidz one place to see the case, caseback and papers on camera while the price is still being worked out. Our guide "How to Authenticate a Rolex Before You Bid" covers what to look at before you raise your hand, and "How to Sell Your Rolex for the Best Price" covers the seller's side. Ziv is the face of ShopBidz's Rolex giveaways, which Jennifer Nicole Lee has also promoted, and ShopBidz has featured him alongside watch dealers Benny the Dealer NYC and Michael Reichlen.
Bottom line
As of October 2026, new steel Submariners list at about $10,050 for the no-date 124060 and $11,350 to $11,900 for the date references 126610LN and 126610LV, with two-tone and gold references well above that. Pre-owned steel Submariners generally trade between about $11,500 and $17,500 depending on reference, with the black-bezel date model most often in the low to mid teens, and older references ranging from roughly $8,000 for entry neo-vintage watches to $40,000 and up for desirable 5513 and 1680 examples. The ranges move with the market and the sources disagree, so use them as a frame and check completed sales for your exact reference. Box and papers, polishing, unworn status, dial originality and year are the factors that put a given watch at the top or bottom of its range, and most of them can be checked directly by looking at the watch.