How The Pulse prices the watch market
Our numbers are only as good as our method. Here is exactly how we calculate market values and the Pulse Rolex Index, where the data comes from, and what it can and cannot tell you.
Where our data comes from
We do not rely on any single site. The Pulse aggregates pricing signals from across the market and blends them into one view, so no one dealer's asking price or one lucky auction result skews the number.
Dealer listings
Advertised and transacted prices from established dealers and specialist sellers.
Marketplaces
Live listings and completed sales from major online watch marketplaces.
Auction results
Hammer prices, with buyer's premium, from public watch auctions. Genuine transaction data.
Verified sales · growing
Confirmed peer-to-peer and community sale prices we are gathering over time to deepen coverage.
Where possible we distinguish observed sold prices from asking prices, and weight toward what watches actually trade for, not just what sellers hope to get.
How we value a single model
Five steps turn a scatter of messy listings into one defensible market value with a range.
Gather
Collect recent prices for the reference across all sources above.
Clean and filter
Remove duplicates, mismatched references, and statistical outliers such as obvious errors and non-market prices.
Weight
Give more weight to recent data and to observed sales over open asking prices; account for condition and completeness, box and papers, where known.
Estimate
Produce a central market value plus a low-to-high range, so you see the spread rather than a false single point.
Refresh
Recompute as new data arrives, and timestamp every value with an "as of" date.
How the Pulse Rolex Index works
The Pulse Rolex Index tracks the aggregate resale value of a value-weighted basket of the most-traded Rolex references. Each component is weighted by its relative market significance, the basket is rebalanced periodically, and the index level is computed from the same cleaned, multi-source model values described above.
The index is set to a base of 100 on its starting date, and its history grows from there as we collect more data. A level above 100 means the market has risen since the base date, below 100 that it has fallen. We publish the level with each update and label the "as of" date.
This methodology sits inside a governed framework
How the number is calculated is only half the story. How it is overseen, reviewed and kept free of conflicts is the other half. The Pulse Rolex Index is built to the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks, the international standard for benchmark administration.
How often it updates
Model values and the index refresh on a regular cadence as new market data comes in, currently on a rolling daily basis, and every value carries an "as of" date. Faster refresh is available to Trader and API users as coverage expands.
Spotted something off?
Data transparency is a two-way street. If a price looks wrong, tell us at data@thepulse.fun and we will review it. We publish corrections rather than quietly editing.
See the data live
Explore the current index and per-model values on the live dashboard, or pull the data via the API.
Methodology last updated: July 2026 · revised as our method evolves