Discontinued Rolex watches drove the majority of pre-owned Rolex sales that I tracked in 2026, and five references led the field: the Lady-Datejust 69173, Submariner 16613, Datejust 16233, Submariner 16610, and Datejust 16013. Four of the five are two-tone Rolesor, and every one sells below the price of its own replacement.
The five most in demand discontinued Rolex watches of 2026, ranked by completed sales, are the Lady-Datejust 69173, the Submariner 16613, the Datejust 16233, the Submariner 16610, and the Datejust 16013. All five were retired between 1988 and 2010, all five are available only on the pre-owned market, and their median sold prices in 2026 ranged from roughly $6,600 to roughly $12,600. This ranking measures buyer demand. It does not measure rarity, appreciation, or investment merit.
Key Takeaways
- The Rolex Lady-Datejust 69173 led all discontinued Rolex references on buyer demand in 2026, at a median sold price of $6,595.
- The Submariner 16613 posted the sharpest demand increase in the ranking, climbing from sixth position in 2025 to second in 2026.
- Four of the five leading references are Rolesor, the Rolex term for stainless steel combined with 18k gold.
- Ranking these references by demand and ranking them by sale price produce two different lists, and only two references appear on both.
- The most in demand discontinued Rolex references are among the most affordable ones, not the most scarce.
- References still in production carried a median pre-owned sold price roughly $5,600 above the median for discontinued references.
What follows is a demand ranking built from completed pre-owned Rolex watch sales rather than opinion, along with the discontinuation dates, replacement references, calibers, and price bands behind each entry. I have also broken out where sale price and buyer demand point in opposite directions, because that gap says more about how people actually buy discontinued Rolex watches than the ranking itself does.
How I Ranked the Most In Demand Discontinued Rolex Watches
This ranking is built on completed, shipped sales of discontinued Rolex references at Bob’s Watches between January 1 and August 11, 2026. Completed sales are the most defensible demand signal available. Searches and watchlist activity measure curiosity, and curiosity does not always survive contact with a price tag. Cancelled orders, unshipped orders, and Rolex references still in production are excluded.
I settled every methodology question before looking at the results, so the ranking could not be reverse engineered into a more entertaining answer. I ranked it at the reference number level rather than the model or sub model level, because a Datejust 36 is a family and a 16233 is a watch. Prior year comparisons use the identical January 1 through August 11 window in 2025, so the movement shown for each reference is real and not an artifact of comparing eight months against twelve.
| Methodology decision | What I applied |
| Ranking signal | Completed, shipped sales only |
| Window | January 1 through August 11, 2026, a partial year |
| Granularity | Exact reference number, not model family |
| Minimum threshold | A fixed minimum number of completed sales per reference |
| Prior year basis | The matched January 1 through August 11, 2025 window |
| Scope | Rolex references discontinued as of the start of 2026, vintage and modern |
Two limitations belong on the record. This measures demand as filtered through our own inventory, so a reference that is difficult to source will rank below its true level of buyer appetite. And completed sales data skews modern and skews toward what a large United States dealer stocks in depth. I have not corrected for either. I have flagged both.
The Five Most In Demand Discontinued Rolex Watches of 2026
The five references I review below led all discontinued Rolex watches on completed sales in 2026. The list is not what an opinion piece would produce. There is no Daytona on it, no Explorer, and no solid gold. Four of the five entries are two-tone, three of the five sold for a median under $9,000, and the top entry is a 26mm Lady-Datejust. In each entry, I include the discontinuation year, the reference that replaced it, its position in the 2025 ranking, and the price band it actually traded in.
1. Rolex Lady-Datejust 69173
The Rolex Lady-Datejust 69173 reference is a 26mm two-tone watch with a fluted 18k yellow gold bezel, a sapphire crystal, and the self-winding caliber 2135, and it was the most in demand discontinued Rolex reference of 2026. It moved up from second position in 2025. Rolex retired the reference around 1999 and replaced it with the ref. 79173.
The 69173 sold at a median of $6,595 in 2026, and the middle half of sales landed between $6,270 and $6,870. Not a bad price for a Rolex Lady-Datejust watch if you ask me. From the date I reviewed, that is the tightest price of any reference in the ranking. This is the most standardized and most predictable Rolex we carry. Champagne dials led the mix, and factory diamond dial examples took a larger share of sales in 2026 than in 2025. The 69173 leads because it is accessible, not because it is difficult to find. A two-tone gold and steel Rolex under $7,000 with a genuine 1980s and 1990s production run is an unusual proposition at that price, and buyer behavior reflects it.
2. Rolex Submariner 16613
The Rolex Submariner 16613 is a 40mm two-tone dive watch with an aluminum bezel insert and the caliber 3135, produced from 1988 until 2009 and replaced by the ceramic bezel ref. 116613. It recorded the sharpest demand increase of any reference in this ranking, climbing from sixth position in 2025 to second in 2026.
Median sold price was $12,570, with most sales falling between $11,595 and $14,032. Blue dial examples, known in online horology communities as the Bluesy, outsold black and carried roughly a $1,000 median premium over them. Serti and diamond dial variants traded into the $15,000 range. The demand shift comes down to the gap between this reference and the successor for this specific Rolex Submariner line. The 116613 introduced the broader Super Case, the Maxi dial, and a Cerachrom ceramic bezel, and it commands a meaningfully higher price on the pre-owned market. The 16613 is the last two-tone Submariner with slim lugs and an aluminum insert, which makes it the only option for a buyer who wants the older proportions. A demand jump of this size in a reference with two decades of production behind it is more likely a demand cycle than a permanent repricing, and whether it holds is the question I will be checking in the 2027 edition.
3. Rolex Datejust 16233
The Rolex Datejust 16233 is a 36mm two-tone Rolesor watch with a fluted gold bezel, a sapphire crystal, and the caliber 3135, produced from 1988 until the mid 2000s and replaced by the six digit ref. 116233. It held first position in 2025 and sits third in 2026, displaced by references that grew rather than by any decline of its own.
Median sold price was $8,070, with the bulk of sales between $7,495 and $8,495. Champagne dials led, followed by white and champagne diamonds, and almost every example sold on a Jubilee bracelet. This reference is the default two-tone model for the entire Rolex Datejust collection, and it sells at a steady rate because it answers a very common question: what does a classic two-tone Rolex cost. The answer has stayed in roughly the same place for several years, which is itself part of the appeal.
4. Rolex Submariner 16610
The Rolex Submariner ref. 16610 is a 40mm stainless steel dive watch with a black dial, an aluminum bezel insert, and the caliber 3135, produced from 1988 until 2010 and replaced by the ref. 116610LN. It climbed from fifth position in 2025 to fourth in 2026.
Median sold price was $11,870, with most sales between $10,832 and $12,520. Every example sold was steel with a black dial, and that absence of configuration variety is part of why the reference performs. As I’ve pointed out in my Rolex Submariner buying guide, the 16610 is the last five digit Submariner Date and the final one built before the Super Case, and it has become the reference buyers name when they say they want a Submariner that looks like a Submariner. Its successor is a heavier and broader watch. A meaningful group of buyers actively prefers the older shape rather than accepting it as a compromise, and the price difference between the two generations gives them a reason to act on that preference.
5. Rolex Datejust 16013
The Datejust 16013 reference is a 36mm two-tone Rolesor watch with an acrylic crystal and the caliber 3035, produced from 1977 until 1988 and replaced directly by the 16233. It is the oldest and least expensive reference in the ranking, and it slipped from third position in 2025 to fifth in 2026 while its underlying demand held steady.
Median sold price was $6,870, with the middle half of sales between $6,595 and $7,070. Champagne dials dominated, and roughly one in eight examples sold on a leather strap rather than a bracelet, the highest non bracelet share in the ranking. That points to buyers treating the 16013 as a dress watch rather than a daily wearer. In my opinion, the key takeaway here is price. The 16013 is the most affordable route into a genuine two-tone gold Datejust 36 that we stock consistently, and it performs accordingly. That is a legitimate reason to buy one. It is not the same thing as the watch being scarce or underpriced.
Just Outside the Ranking
The natural break in the 2026 data does not fall neatly at five. The Rolex Submariner 116610, which covers both the black dial 116610LN and the green dial 116610LV known as the Hulk, sat close enough to fifth position to belong in this discussion. Rolex discontinued the reference in 2020 and replaced it with the 41mm 126610LN. Its combined median sold price was $19,495, and Hulk examples outsold black dial examples for the first time in our data.
That reference also produced the most misreadable number in the dataset. When I looked at this as a single reference, its median sold price appears to have jumped more than 50% year over year. Roughly four fifths of that movement is mix, not price. Broken out by dial, the black dial median moved from $11,870 to $13,070 and the green dial median moved from $19,883 to $21,995, each close to 10%. The GMT-Master II 16710 also finished just outside the ranking, splitting almost evenly between Pepsi and Coke bezel configurations at median prices of $15,295 and $14,995.
The Calibers and Materials Behind These References
Four of the six references I discussed above run one of two Rolex movements, and that concentration explains a great deal about why they sell. The Rolex caliber 3135 is a self-winding mechanical movement introduced in 1988, running at 28,800 beats per hour with a Breguet overcoil hairspring, a full balance bridge, and a 48 hour power reserve. It powers the Submariner 16613, the Submariner 16610, and the Datejust 16233, and Rolex kept it in production for roughly three decades. The Datejust 16013 runs the earlier caliber 3035, and the Lady-Datejust 69173 runs the caliber 2135, the movement that introduced the quickset date to the 26mm Lady-Datejust.
The material story is just as consistent to my eye. Every reference in my top five uses an aluminum bezel insert or a fluted gold bezel rather than Cerachrom, the scratch resistant and fade resistant ceramic Rolex introduced across the professional lines beginning in 2005. Cerachrom is harder and holds color indefinitely. An aluminum insert can fade, and faded inserts are part of what I see buyers in online horology communities valuing about the five digit generation. The 16013 goes a step further back, with an acrylic crystal instead of sapphire. Acrylic scratches easily and polishes out just as easily, which I’d call a different ownership proposition rather than a worse one.Â
“The caliber 3135 is one of the reasons these references keep selling. It ran for roughly thirty years, parts are available, and any good watchmaker knows it. When someone buys a 16610 or a 16233, they’re buying a movement we can service for decades, and that matters more to a watch collector than a ceramic bezel does.”
Paul Altieri, Founder & CEO of Bob’s Watches
Rolex Heritage Behind the 2026 Ranking
Rolex introduced the Datejust in 1945 to mark the company’s 40th anniversary, and it was the first self-winding wrist chronometer with an automatically changing date displayed through a window on the dial. Three of the five references in this ranking descend directly from that watch. Rolex followed with the Submariner in 1953, the first divers’ wristwatch guaranteed waterproof to 100 metres, and added the Lady-Datejust in 1957 as a smaller cased version of the original. The 2026 demand ranking is, in effect, a ranking of three model lines launched within twelve years of each other in the middle of the last century.
Rolesor, the Rolex term for a watch combining Oystersteel and 18k gold in a single case and bracelet, is the other thread running through the ranking. It appears in four of the five leading references. The combination was designed to sit between steel and solid gold in both appearance and price, and roughly eighty years later that positioning is exactly what continues to drive its demand on the pre-owned market.
Where Demand and Price Diverge
Ranking discontinued Rolex references by demand and ranking them by sale price produce two genuinely different lists, and the gap between them is the most useful finding in this dataset. The demand ranking is dominated by accessible two-tone Datejusts. The price ranking is dominated by Submariners, GMT-Masters, and the Daytona 116500LN. Only two references appear on both.
The Daytona 116500LN illustrates the divergence most clearly. The Rolex Daytona 116500 reference is a stainless steel chronograph with a Cerachrom bezel, produced from 2016 until 2023, and it sold at a median of $31,495 in 2026. It ranks well outside the top ten on demand and near the very top on price. If I had ranked this article by sale price, it would read like every opinion based list already published on the subject. The demand ranking is less glamorous and considerably more honest about what buying a discontinued Rolex actually looks like.
| Reference | Median sold price, 2026 | Successor median sold price, 2026 |
| Lady-Datejust 69173 | $6,595 | 79173 at $8,533 |
| Datejust 16013 | $6,870 | 16233 at $8,070 |
| Datejust 16233 | $8,070 | 116233 at $11,995 |
| Submariner 16610 | $11,870 | 116610 at $19,495 |
| Submariner 16613 | $12,570 | 116613 at $16,195 |
Every reference in the ranking sold for less than the reference that replaced it, and in two cases the difference exceeded $7,000. Price accessibility relative to the successor is the single clearest pattern in the 2026 data.
What This Says About Discontinued Rolex Buyers in 2026
Discontinued references accounted for the majority of Rolex demand in 2026 rather than a specialist corner of it. The median sold price for a discontinued Rolex reference was $10,995. For a reference still in production, purchased on the pre-owned market, the median was $16,595. Roughly 43% of discontinued Rolex sales closed below $10,000. Demand also spread very wide. Hundreds of distinct discontinued references sold during the window, and the five references in this ranking account for a small fraction of the total. Any list of five describes one corner of a long tail.
The pattern across all of it is that the most wanted discontinued Rolex is not a grail. It is a mid four figure Datejust or Lady-Datejust bought by someone who wanted a Rolex rather than a position. Certain discontinued references have held value well over multi year periods, and a smaller group has appreciated. Neither outcome is guaranteed, and demand volume is not a forecast of either. The references at the top of this ranking are popular because they are the most efficient answer to a straightforward want, and that is a different quality from scarcity.
“The watches at the top of this list are not the rare ones. They’re nice pices that are more obtainable. A two-tone Datejust at seven thousand dollars is an affordable first Rolex, and that has been true for years. Demand volume tells you what is popular. It does not tell you what will appreciate.”
Paul Altieri, Founder & CEO of Bob’s Watches
What I Would Tell a Buyer Reading This Ranking
Use this list as a map of what other buyers are choosing, not as a shopping order. Demand data tells you which references are liquid, which price bands are stable, and where the market has moved over twelve months. It does not tell you which watch suits your wrist, your budget, or the way you intend to wear it. A buyer who wants an aluminum bezel Submariner and a buyer who wants a ceramic one are looking at different watches with the same name, and no ranking resolves that for them.
At Bob’s Watches, every reference discussed here passes through the same authentication and service process before it is listed, which is why the sold data behind this article reflects completed transactions rather than asking prices. I publish this ranking annually so the year over year movement stays comparable, and the 2027 edition will use a matching window. If a reference on this list interests you, the price guides and reference guides go considerably deeper than a demand ranking can.
