Rolex Pepsi is fetching stupid prices as watch dealers get fed up

Open the Chrono24 app today, Filter for a Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsiand the first thing you will see is a number that will amaze you. $126,898. Plus $220 shipping. Located in Italy.

This is for a stainless steel sports watch. Not a unique piece. Not a prototype. A regular production 126710BLRO that Rolex sold for $9,500 when it was introduced in 2018.

Scroll down and it gets worse. $107,723 for a “Pepsi Oman” from the US, plus another $144 shipping. $101,518 for a “NUOVO 2022 Maggio” in Italy, which requires another $2,707 to actually ship to you. $98,134 for an OMAN ref. 126710 BLRO, also Italy, $592 shipping on top. All four were tagged “Popular” by the platform as if it were a medium flat white in a busy cafe.

And every single one of these salespeople knows exactly what they are doing.

Two weeks ago, Rolex quietly pulled the plug. When the news broke, we reported: “Visit the 126710BLRO product page on Rolex.com now and you will be greeted with a platinum day-date tag and four words: ‘This page is unavailable.'” The steel Pepsi is dead. The gray market didn’t wait for confirmation. They didn’t need one.

Chrono24 reported a 500 percent increase In the first week of March alone, purchase inquiries for the 126710BLRO increased, and that was before Watches & Wonders even opened. Average prices in Australian dollars rose from around $31,000 to over $35,600 in six months.

So that’s the legit part. Supply became scarcer, demand skyrocketed, and the market realigned its prices. Textbook stuff. But $126,898 plus $220 shipping? Come on buddy.

Before the discontinuation rumors began, the 126710BLRO was typically listed for around $22,000 to $29,000. That was already about double Rolex’s own retail price of around $11,800. Double retailing is what Pepsi has always done. Painful, but a known quantity.

The four offers shown above are not double sales. They are eight to eleven times more expensive than retail. Is the watch suddenly eleven times more desirable than it was in February? Has the movement gotten better? Did the ceramic bezel develop consciousness?

No. A manufacturer has made an announcement. That’s it. Same clock. Same case. Same caliber 3285. The only thing that has changed is the number of men willing to pay whatever they are told.

That’s how it works, and it’s not subtle. Reseller lists with a stupid number. The buyer sees the “Popular” note and a glossy photo and panics. Buyer transfers money. The reseller buys the next copy at a slightly less stupid price and lists it higher up. Wash. Repeat. Fund the renovation.

If you want a rough floor, the used car specialists who actually need to move inventory are currently offering around $22,000 to $29,000+ for a steel 126710BLRO. Call it $30,000 for a clean 2023 or 2024 example with box and papers. That’s still almost three times retail. But it is the actual number. Anything over 40 means someone is counting on the Rolex mystique to do the work for them.

Hand on heart, if you’ve waited eight years on an AD waiting list for a retail Pepsi and now you’re seeing $126,000 on Chrono24 and wondering if you should just skip the line, you’ve done it.

The demolition shock is real. But it will come back. It’s too popular to delete forever. The Pepsi has always been a watch that rewards patience. Nothing has changed in the last two weeks. The resellers hope you’ve forgotten.

Not.