Chrono24, the world’s largest specialist watch marketplace, has shed 65 jobs in a cost-cutting exercise triggered by a ten month slump in activity and sales.
Bloomberg reports that the Germany-based operation has trimmed its workforce by around 13%.
WATCHPRO contacted Chrono24 for comment.
The company is far from the first global tech company to shrink its payroll in tough trading conditions.
The likes of Meta, Google and Amazon have all consolidated after years of expansion that has proved too optimistic in the current climate.
The secondary market for watches had seen rising prices over several years for waiting list watches from the likes of Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille.
This price rise accelerated throughout 2021 and into 2022, but ended abruptly in March last year.
Watches continued (and continue) to be advertised at sky high prices, but the volume of transactions slumped, and the actual prices paid, as oppose to the advertised prices, have been even lower.
Despite brief periods of optimism, such as in September last year, when the market appeared to have found a floor, prices are still falling.
The Subdial50, which tracks prices for the 50 most traded watches, is down by 33% over the past 12 months.
It’s not really surprising that Chrono24 is suffering a 10 month slump in sales: many of their advertised prices are comically expensive