The dynamics dictating new rules.
The main trends on the pre-owned watch market in 2022 were its untethered growth and an influx of newcomers, prepared to invest in pre-owned watches at almost any cost if the authenticity and the condition of goods are verified. Moreover, pre-owned watches are becoming a fashionable accessory, spurring auction houses and watchmakers to actively begin engaging in partnerships.
You can even see interest has increased in pre-owned watches by keeping up with the news of robberies. On November 19, 2022, criminals broke into a vault space in a high-security facility in central Berlin's Fasanenstrasse, owned by Vallog GmbH, where they stole a thousand watches worth a sum of over EUR 10 million.
The owners of these watches had entrusted them to the company Watchmaster to be sold at virtual auctions. The robbery resulted in Watchmaster filing for bankruptcy, and over 900 of their clients were left empty handed, without their watches or any profit.
The pre-owned watch market's rapid growth is also reflected in data from auditing and consulting firms. According to data from Deloitte, the pre-owned watch market's turnover was around CHF 20 billion last year, and it could grow CHF 35 billion by 2023!
Trend for Validity
Looking at all of this, watch manufacturers have come to the reasonable conclusion that turning a blind eye to the pre-owned watch market and leaving it to be run by other players isn't an option. In keeping with tradition, Rolex was one of the first to react.
The manufacture announced the launch of its own program for certifying pre-owned watches: Rolex Certified Pre-Owned. Thanks to this program, official Rolex retailers will now be permitted to trade pre-owned models that the brand has certified as authentic.
Moreover, these watches would now come with a two-year international guarantee. Rolex Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) only applies to watches purchased from authorized dealers and manufactured over three years ago at the time of resale.
This deals a blow to sketchy dealers and opportunists who stock up on large numbers of the most popular models with the aim of reselling them in a shady manner. This deals a blow to sketchy dealers and opportunists who stock up on large numbers of the most popular models with the aim of reselling them in a shady manner.
Rolex Certified Pre-Owned only applies to watches manufactured over three years ago at the time of resale.
Anyone contacting an official Rolex dealer asking to be sold not one watch but, let's say, 5-7 watches of the exact same model should immediately set alarm bells ringing and trigger a guaranteed refusal. This forces such wheelers and dealers to search for contacts on the shadow market, which the watchmaker certainly doesn't welcome.
Another important condition set out by the program is that the guarantee and CPO certificate can only be obtained from official Rolex retailers and can't be issued by all the many retailers. From this month on, Rolex Certified Pre-Owned watches will initially only be available at Bucherer boutiques in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Denmark and the UK.
Once Rolex has analyzed the initial results of how the program is working to make any necessary adjustments, the company will begin branching out CPO to allow other official retailers to participate from spring 2023. The program applies to both modern pre-owned watches as well as vintage models.
Auction houses have of course been paying close attention to that last point, and they're already wondering how it can be put into practice. And market players across the board have acknowledged that the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned program is an extremely important step in the watch industry's evolution, which officially confirms that the watch is genuine, guaranteeing its origins and proper functioning.
A Spoon is Dear When Lunchtime is Near
A sale of one of last year's sensational pieces at Christie’s November auctions in Geneva went under the radar somehow: the steel Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711/1A-018 with a “Tiffany Blue” dial. This Nautilus was launched as a limited edition 170-pieces series to mark the 170th anniversary of the partnership between the watch and jewelry titans.
The last steel Nautilus with this reference number was sold in December 2021 for a staggering USD 6,503,500 (including the buyer's premium) in New York, smashing its initial retail price of USD 52,635.
The freshly minted watch sold for a charitable cause was actually most likely acquired by Patek Philippe. And eleven months later, the second Ref. 5711/1A-018 with a “Tiffany Blue” dial to sell in public resurfaced on the pre-owned watch market.
The result it achieved was CHF 3,174,000. Alright, this is almost exactly half the price achieved last year, yet it's still a ridiculously huge amount of money to shell out for an uncomplicated automatic three-hand watch in a steel case!
Vintage or even just pre-owned Swiss watches may seem to have nothing in common with changeable fashion trends.
This result was certainly influenced in many respects by the momentum of last year's achievement, which means a trend is taking hold for timepieces that are relevant now — a brand-new, unfamiliar and even alien trend for the market.
Vintage or even just pre-owned Swiss watches may seem to have nothing in common with changeable fashion trends. But that's what's happening here! No, we can't say there are fashion trends for watches like Patek's iconic perpetual calendar chronograph Ref. 1518, or the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 116500.
But take the A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus or the Patek Philippe Tiffany with its blue dial — they could be at the height of fashion, especially when hardly anyone owns one yet.
The same could be said of the Rolex GMT-Master II Destro Ref. 126720VTNR presented this spring, where the winding crown is located on the left-hand side of the case. It seems the time has come to admit that topicality does influence investment strategy to a certain degree.
Personal Auctions
Audemars Piguet's iconic Royal Oak which marked its 50th anniversary this year has firmly placed itself on the global auction map. The idea of personal auctions appealed to other watch manufacturers, who've actively begun looking into opportunities for similar partnerships.
For example, Christie’s and the Italian watchmaker Panerai held auctions in Hong Kong in early December. True, the 83 lots may have turned a rather modest profit at just under USD 1,000,000. The main thing is to set the ball rolling!
Phillips and Bvlgari marked the first decade of the ultra-thin Octo Finissimo model's design in a rather original way. They launched a joint model, which its creators believe should be a sure and enduring success among discerning fans of haute horlogerie.
The model named Bulgari Octo Finissimo Special Edition Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo Ref. 103709 is housed in a 40-mm sand-blasted titanium case. It's equipped with the ultra-thin self-winding manufacture Caliber BVL 138, which measures 2.23 mm in height.
Phillips and Bvlgari marked the first decade of the ultra-thin Octo Finissimo model's design in a rather original way.
When the watch was being created, specialists from the auction house provided a couple tips on features they believed would be sure to attract attention from collectors. The watch launched as a limited edition of 50 pieces will be sold exclusively by Phillips Watches over the coming year.
Trends and Brands
Changes in auction favorites are minimal, but there are some changes. The list of top picks has almost stayed the same. The major watch houses making the list are Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, as well as others who are rapidly gaining momentum, such as A. Lange & Söhne, Cartier and Vacheron Constantin.
Omega has fallen behind a little, although jewelry and watch manufacturer Van Cleef & Arpels has risen noticeably in unofficial rankings. What is significant is the impressive progress being made by smaller brands.
This progress had already begun a number of years back, but the unwavering positions Patek Philippe and Rolex had held at the top three major auction houses were shaken up this year by the creations of François-Paul Journe, Richard Mille and George Daniels. And we're not talking about first places — we're talking about the top-ten most expensive lots. Is this only the beginning?