Demand for Pre-Owned Luxury Watches to Surge

Credit: Robb Report

According to a new industry report, sales of second-hand luxury watches will overtake new models within a decade as buyers face limited stocks of Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet timepieces.

LuxeConsult, a Swiss-based industry analyst and consulting firm, forecast that the market for pre-owned watches will surge to 79 billion euros ($85 billion) in 2033, more than triple the 25 billion euros sold last year,

Online sales will drive the jump amid a renaissance in interest in luxury timepieces fomented during the pandemic. As demand has boomed, consumers wanting to buy the most popular models from Rolex and Audemars Piguet have been frustrated by a lack of product and waitlists due to the limited production constraints at the top brands.

Some buyers have turned to the secondary market where sellers and dealers charge a premium above retail prices for the most in-demand models.

The report also said that the value of pre-owned watch sales rose 20% in 2022, while sales of new luxury watches rose 12%, topping 52 billion euros.

LuxeConsult expects secondary market sales to rise just 3% in 2023 and 10% in 2024 before averaging a 12% compound annual growth rate from 2025 until 2033. That’s compared to an average 4% growth rate in sales of new luxury watches.

Secondary market prices for the most popular luxury watch brand models have been falling steadily in the past months. Rolex, Patek and Audemars Piguet account for more than 55% of the trading value of secondary market watches, according to LuxeConsult.

LuxeConsult partners with Morgan Stanley each year to produce extensive report on sales, production and market share of the top Swiss brands.

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