The market for used luxury watches is gallopingas investors seek refuge from inflation, and the largest reseller platform, Chrono24, is “looking” at the stock market.
Chrono24, which has among them sponsors the family of Bernard Arnault of LVMHincreased the value of its transactions by more than 40% in the first quarter, as its co-CEO, Tim Stracke, told Bloomberg.
This increase reflects the demand for used watches from Swiss brands such as Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, which as family businesses remain, have limited productive capacity. Inflation worries also fuel demand, why Some luxury watches are considered a means of storing value but also a “shield” against currency fluctuations.
Some models saw their prices skyrocket during the pandemic. The Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak blue dial now costs around 107,000 Swiss francs ($ 110,000) on the platform, up from 46,447 francs last April.
While retail sales of luxury watches are growing by up to 3% per year, the secondary market is gaining 10% a year and is expected to reach $ 29 billion to $ 32 billion in turnover by 2025, according to McKinsey.
Stracke does not think that the increase in prices of used cars is a bubble that is in danger of bursting, because demand and prices show a steady rise and supply is stable.
Chrono24 estimates that transactions with a total value of about 2 billion euros took place or started on its platform last year. At the moment, they appear on the site approximately half a million watches for sale.
Rolex are the ones that make the biggest turnover by far and follow Swatch Omega, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Cartier, owned by Richemont, is the seventh most popular brand in terms of transaction value.
Stracke estimates that luxury watches with a total value of more than 400 billion euros are in circulation worldwide.
Chrono24 is planning a possible IPO sometime in the future. The smaller competitor Chronext postponed its own IPO in October, citing adverse market conditions.
Money Review
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