Eugene Tutunikov, CEO of SwissWatchExpo, has welcomed the news that Rolex is rolling out a certified pre-owned programme for its watches.
The Atlanta-based secondary market specialist, like many of its competitors, has been working for many years to convince the public that second hand luxury watches are safe and legitimate to buy, and Mr Tutunikov (pictured top) believes the Rolex initiative will bring additional credibility to the sector.
“I think the news is overall really good for the pre-owned space. While the reluctance to shop pre-owned has come down in recent years, we still often hear people say they aren’t willing to buy a preowned watch, or their wife wouldn’t accept one as a gift,” he tells WATCHPRO.
“Rolex will take pre-owned even more mainstream than it is now,” he adds.
SwissWatchExpo expects Rolex certified pre-owned timepieces to cost more as it will be an expensive and time-consuming process to ship the watches to the Rolex centers for authentication and service.
Also, they will be only available through authorised sellers. “I expect the authorised dealers once they have these pieces in stock, to market them at a 15%-20% premium to what the top resellers like us will be selling them for,” Mr Tutunikov suggests.
Ultimately, the customer will decide. “A few of us larger players in the pre-owned space have a stellar reputation in terms of both authentication and service, but some consumers will pay the premium to get the Rolex rubber stamp on the product pre purchase,” he predicts. “For many consumers they will opt for a reputable dealer they can trust and have dealt with for many years, finding little need to spend an extra 15% on timepiece.”
Secondary market prices for Rolex’s most traded watches have been falling since the end of March, and large dealers are no longer offering to pay over-retail prices for all but a small handful of references.
Mr Tutunikov expects Rolex’s CPO program to fire up demand for the brand’s watches, which may bring the price fall to a soft landing.
“I think it will drive demand for pre-owned Rolex watches from consumers, as now the authorized dealer network will be a buyer of these timepieces. This adds extra demand which will lead to more price stability and potentially appreciation,” he suggests.
“More people will be willing to buy a preowned watch, knowing there will now be more places they can sell it or trade it in. This is good news for everyone involved,” he concludes.
Very good comments
I worked 34 years at Rolex in Brazil as a comercial director
Our biggest concern was always pré owned watches
So this decision is correct to avoid problems
Congratulations to Rolex
Until they find out that when they really wanna go sell their used watch to Rolex that they had paid for it double retail from grey market dealers like you, Rolex won’t pay them anything close to retail and maybe a promise to put them on a list …. Then they will realize they made a mistake and will want to sell it back to you who will pay less for them and slowly the prices will drop again. If Rolex will keep adding 15 to 20 percent to your top prices, then you will keep increasing your top price to close the gap between you and Rolex CRO prices, then Rolex will increase even more to stay at a premium, eventually they will be too expensive to buy. The gap between what Rolex is willing to buy them for and what they will be selling them won’t justify the business anymore. Unless they do one thing which will change the whole market… Double their retail prices suddenly. That will change the game.
I want to buy a Batman . Pls
Help me to get one .