Indeed, there were monumental moves in horology in the past 12 months, with Phillips recording a record year, having sold every single lot they had to offer, including a platinum Patek Philippe Blue Royale and a Rolex Daytona chronograph in yellow gold, with total sales up by US$40 million on what they achieved from watches in 2020.

Watchmakers small and large are responding to this new consumer trend by embracing it. The likes of Rolex, Richard Mille and Omega are welcoming the second-hand sector by offering services such as authenticity guarantees, second-hand pop-ups, and even starting their own pre-owned selling platforms. It’s given unattainable and unknown brands the chance to introduce themselves to a wider variety of buyers, many of whom are getting their first taste of luxury timepieces.

“We support the vintage market by allowing owners of watches over 30 years old to obtain a certificate of authenticity issued by our experienced watchmakers based on a thorough examination of the watch as well as our records,” Raynald Aeschlimann, CEO of Omega, said in a statement. The Swiss luxury watch brand is among those that collectors especially look for, alongside Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and Rolex, to name a few.

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Rolex, one of the brands that experienced a shortage due to production shutdowns during the height of the pandemic in 2020, is still in high demand and its second-hand Daytona and Submariner models are skyrocketing in price as the waiting list grows and production volumes shrink.

In Hong Kong, China and Singapore, pre-owned watches are now widely accepted as sound investments. Perezzi notes that half the watches that Phillips Auctions have offered globally have been bought in Asia, with collectors from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Greater China the most enthusiastic buyers. That’s also paved the way for white glove pre-owned watch retailers to enter key markets.

When Josh Srolovitz, director of trading at WatchBox, brought the pre-owned timepiece retailer to Hong Kong, they opened a posh lounge at Central to entertain their clients, a deviation from their digital-first practices in the US.

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“Globally, it’s been such an incredible couple of years: this year, we’re set to generate around US$300 million in revenue and we just surpassed the US$1 billion revenue mark since the launch of WatchBox four years ago,” says Srolovitz. They’ve come far from when he and a couple of partners began trading watches from a basement. Taking cues from its practice in Hong Kong and Singapore, the retailer now looks to open collectors’ lounges in the US, Europe and the Middle East. And aside from trading, WatchBox has now taken over the majority position in a watch brand called De Bethune.

This is not to say that the online pre-owned watch market is entirely new. Nearly two decades ago, online watch retailer Chrono24 was a pioneer, digitising the historically offline luxury watch industry and growing to become one of the world’s largest luxury watch marketplaces with 500,000 unique visitors per day, 3,000 retail dealers and 30,000 private sellers. As it stands, it lists half a million luxury watches at any given time, according to Kana Mackie, head of Chrono24 in the Asia-Pacific region. “As originators of the digital marketplace concept within the luxury watch world, we have built a platform that not only supports and encourages evolving consumer behaviour, but also provides invaluable proof of concept to an industry that has traditionally shied away from disruption,” says Mackie.

Having said this, the innovators at Chrono24 also plan to use a secured US$118 million Series C investment to accelerate their growth and improve the user experience to capitalise on the pre-owned luxury watch market.

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“The pre-owned market can offer valuable insight into pricing and demand,” says Mackie. “Some brands such as Porsche Design and Louis Moinet have opened their own selling platforms on Chrono24.” Mackie and her team have estimated that the pandemic has fast-forwarded their business and the online behaviour of consumers by five years.

Watchfinder & Co., another pioneering premium pre-owned watch retailer, banks on its experience in dealing these timepieces, supplemented by its certified servicing of pieces from Panerai, Omega, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Cartier and Vacheron Constantin. With nearly 15 years of experience in the industry, Watchfinder & Co. is expanding its offerings by now providing video content on watchmaking and blog articles to educate its clientele, and establishing physical boutiques around the world to complement its online business. In 2018, the company was acquired by Swiss luxury goods group Richemont, the holding company that operates brands like Cartier, A. Lange & Söhne and Piaget. All further proof that big business has recognised the impact of the second-hand market.

These success stories are a mere snapshot of the businesses benefiting from this new world of pre-owned watch trading, where sellers can become buyers and vice versa, and clients are set on educating themselves and becoming ever more discerning. The pandemic has only accelerated growth in this market and there are surely more exciting developments to come among brands, businesses and buyers.