Chrono24 is a platform, a marketplace; it does not buy watches, it does not sell watches, it does not refurbish watches. It does not even check or authenticate the watches for sale on its site.
This remains the case today, but with two exceptions. Chrono24 bought German pre-owned watch trader Zeitauktion in 2019 and British business Xupes in the UK earlier this year.
Both were opportunistic acquisitions, and bought Chrono24 expertise and experience on how to buy, service and refurbish the pre-owned watches it promotes.
Zeitauktion claims to be the largest supplier of luxury pre-owned watches in the European Uniion with over 6000 certified timepieces in stock.
The challenge with buying and holding pre-owned watch stock is that it changes in value day by day and the economic laws of supply and demand impact prices.
Not a problem in 2019 to 2021, with prices soaring for the most tradeable pieces, but they have been in free fall since and the market is flooded with sellers trying to shift stock at a time when there are very few buyers willing to buy until prices find a floor.
Since Chrono24 bought Zeitauktion three years’ ago, the team has grown from 35 employees to over 100, but that hiring spree has come to an abrupt end this year and the company is now laying off around 40% of its workforce, according to German news site TAG24.
It had been feared that Zeitauktion could be completely closed, but a spokesperson for Chrono24 said that 42 redundancies had been made after growth failed to materialise since the acquisition.
“Both sides had to realize that the desired synergy effects did not occur,” a spokesman told Tag24.Â
