Watch prices in the UK are rising.

The UK Watch Index tracks what UK retailers actually charge for the same watches over time. In August 2026 it covered 8,913 matched price lines across 6,204 watches at 11 retailers. Prices rose 0.73% against the previous month, and the index stands at 101.01 against a base of 100 in April 2026.

Method

• The unit is a price line — one watch at one retailer. That is what a shop charges, which is what a price index measures. Using only the cheapest retailer would mix genuine price changes with retailers entering and leaving the comparison.
• Matched pairs only. A month-on-month change counts a price line only where a price is known in both months. Otherwise the index would move whenever the catalogue changed, which is composition, not inflation.
• Chained Jevons index. Each month's change is the geometric mean of price relatives, the standard used by the ONS for elementary aggregates and far less sensitive to a single extreme price than an average would be.
• Prices are steps, not curves. A price is recorded when it changes, so a watch holds its last known price until it moves. A price that did not change is counted as unchanged.
• The basket is watches currently sold by the retailers we track. Historical prices are real, but listings that disappeared entirely are not represented — so the index describes watches you can still buy.
• Brand figures need at least 30 matched price lines in a month, below which a single change would swing the number too far to be meaningful.

Using these figures

Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite the UK Watch Index with attribution to WatchShopper. Figures are updated monthly. If you need the underlying breakdown or a longer series, get in touch.