For years, building a watch collection was a long-term commitment. Each purchase was approached as an investment that would likely turn into a family heirloom—once you bought a watch, it would usually stay in your collection and be passed on. The notion of selling and trading timepieces within your collection wasn’t as commonplace. Just 25 years ago, the dotcom bubble was bursting, and the options to sell or trade watches safely and securely were few and far between. There was eBay, which lacked any of the authentication processes in place today, and there were brick and mortar retailers who could help you to sell or trade in your watch to a small local audience. However, there was nothing compared to the vast number of reputable online marketplaces available today that allow collectors to take the practice of selling and trading in their own hands.
The Business of Watch Collecting
Watch collecting has changed dramatically in the past decade with the evolution of both online platforms and the secondary market. According to EveryWatch, an AI-powered platform offering comprehensive luxury watch sales data and analytics, pre-owned watch sales hit $24 billion in 2023. This makes up approximately one-third of the retail value for all luxury watch sales for the year, which clocked in around $75 billion. With the massive growth of the secondary market, particularly in the past five years, selling and trading watches has become a lucrative and competitive business for many collectors. Just like selling and trading within the stock market, you want to have a grasp on the current supply and demand.
While today’s market offers numerous outlets to sell and trade your watches, it’s still crucial that collectors educate themselves on the latest trends and platforms to get the most value for their timepieces. Watchfinder, one of the premier resources for buying, selling, and trading pre-owned luxury watches, has used its sales data to produce such trend reports, which show some key insights. For instance, materials beyond stainless steel are increasingly in demand, from classic precious metals like gold to more contemporary alternatives like ceramic. Watchfinder also notes the “50-year rule,” marking the rising popularity of watches from the 1970s and even 1980s.
Thankfully, with the evolution of the secondary market, there are more and more resources like EveryWatch and WatchFinder available to collectors to educate themselves and make smarter decisions when selling and trading their watches. Here, we sat down with five experts in the field—including executives at EveryWatch and Watchfinder—to share their thoughts on the most important things for collectors to know when selling and trading their watches and some key trends in the secondhand market.
Three Important Things to Consider Before Selling or Trading Your Next Watch
When it comes to the most imperative element to consider when buying in the secondary market, the consensus is that condition is king. “The rarity, the desirability of a specific configuration, box, and papers, all those things pale in comparison to the condition,” shares Linden Lazarus, founder of the Los Angeles-based vintage and pre-owned resale site Oliver & Clarke. “If you’re buying the best example, it will always be desirable—there’s always a buyer for a watch in truly exceptional condition, sometimes even above market.” That said, preserving the condition of your watch is key to retaining its value if you plan to sell or trade.
Research is another vital component when selling or trading your timepieces, particularly when choosing the platform where you plan to sell or trade your watch. According to Lazarus, you have to buy the seller. “It’s important to look at the cohesiveness of a store, whether that be brick and mortar or online,” he explains. “For instance, if I’m new at selling and trading, I want to find a store with a specialty, so to speak. If someone sells a lot of vintage Rolex, perhaps that’s not the right place to sell a Cartier, even if they’re a very reputable seller. Or, for example, if a platform primarily sells sub $10,000 watches, you probably don’t want to sell a $150,000 watch with them—again, they may be highly respected but not the right outlet for you.”
Last but not least, as cliché as it may sound: timing is everything. You can have a watch that’s in excellent condition from a great brand, but if the market is saturated or demand is low, selling or trading your watch might not give you the return on your investment that you hoped for. That said, this begs the question why now? Why is this a good moment to sell or trade in the secondary market? According to Edouard Caumon, Watchfinder’s U.S. Country Manager, there are three main reasons: choice, accessibility, and value.
“In recent years, the primary market has struggled with production and keeping enough inventory whereas when you come to a secondary retailer, you have a very wide selection thanks to growing interest in pre-owned and vintage and the practices of trading and selling,” he shares. This also translates to accessibility, and Eddie Goziker, President of the hybrid—online and brick and mortar—pre-owned retailer, Wrist Aficionado, agrees. “The days where you can walk into a brand boutique or an authorized retailer and walk out with the watch you want no longer exists,” he says. “But if someone has a birthday, anniversary, holiday, or a gift to give, they don’t want to wait. The secondary market affords buyers instant gratification.” This brings us to Caoumon’s third reason that now is the time to sell and trade: value. “Models from the big three (Rolex, Patek, and Audemars Piguet) are often selling for 50-60% above retail whereas other big brands like Omega, Breitling, TAG Heuer, and IWC have stabilized, which is good for both buyers and sellers.”
The Top Five Trends in the Market Right Now
Trends are a loaded topic in any facet of the watch industry. In one respect, watches are inherently timeless. If properly taken care of, they’re meant to last generations, and brands know the aesthetic needs to transcend passing fads. On the other hand, when it comes to understanding the best time to sell or trade your watch to get the best return on your investment, looking at trends is essential. Here are the top five trends experts are seeing in the market right now.
Quiet Luxury
We know quiet luxury has been a growing trend not just in the watch industry but beyond. Tim Stracke, co-founder of the popular resale site Chrono24, confirms they’ve seen this to be true through their market index tool ChronoPulse based on the retailer’s years of real sales data. In one of the company’s latest reports, it saw models like the Grand Seiko Heritage Collection performing well, and even among bigger brands like Cartier, more discrete models like the Santos are outperforming others. “More and more, we see people wanting super high quality but less visibility of branding and logos,” clarifies Stracke.
Independents
Independents only make up a small portion of the secondary market thanks to their low production numbers. However, their popularity in the primary market has started to trickle over, and we’re seeing more and more independents appear in the secondary market. Because of their rarity, they consistently perform well, according to Giovanni Prigigallo, Co-Founder of Everywatch. “With many independents being newer to market and produced in smaller volume, there’s a lot of potential here. With their current performance, we’re only just starting to see their initial stages of growth.”
The Big Three
On the flipside, the big three continue to dominate the secondary market. This is precisely why Wrist Aficionado has chosen to distinguish itself by specializing exclusively in these brands and offering a brick-and-mortar counterpart to its e-commerce site. “When you’re dealing in the top three brands, people are making big purchases—$50,000, $100,000, sometimes millions of dollars. We found it hard to build trust for these types of transactions online, so we began opening our stores where people could try on the watches before they made an investment. This improved our buyer’s experience as well as the seller’s, reducing the number of returns and exchanges.”
Sleeper Hits
What if a buyer aspires to own one of the highly coveted models from the big three but isn’t there in their collecting journey yet? Enter sleeper hits. “If a customer wants a highly desirable model like a Nautilus, Daytona, or Royal Oak but can’t afford one yet, they will likely look to other alternatives from the brand,” explains Lazarus. “For instance, they might look at less desirable references from the 80s or 90s or even a more atypical model from the brand altogether.”
Unisex Sizing and Styling
Diversity and inclusivity have also become major talking points within the watch industry in recent years. This growing desire for more unisex sizing and styling has directly contributed to growth in the secondary market. “One of the things I love most in today’s market is both men and women seeking so-called unisex watches,” says Caumon. “For example, my wife and I love sharing watches, and we see this more and more with our customers.”
