Second Stint

The new developments in the watch industry are promising for the growth of pre-owned pieces’ market in India and across the world.

- K Fernandez

In March, Mumbai-based Ethos Watch Boutiques launched a section for premium second-hand watches on its website. The luxury retailer certifies every pre-owned watch it sells and provides a two-year warranty. “We are creating a market, which would treat these watches as investment,” Pranav Saboo, cofounder, Ethos Watch Boutiques, told the Mint newspaper.

The move is in line with evolving brand strategy as manufacturers attempt to control their products life cycle. The starting block is Audemars Piguet, which will open standalone boutiques where pre-owned watches can be bought and sold. “Second-hand is the next big thing in the watch industry,” Chief Executive François-Henry Bennahmias declared on the sidelines of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie watch fair in Genève. “We are witnessing a social and cultural change that forces us to think about what the business will look like in five or 10 years,” he told reporters. The brand, which makes about 40,000 watches a year, estimates that the demand for pre-owned watches could be 10 to 20 times the size of the current market for new pieces.

Growing prospects

LVMH, which owns TAG Heuer, Hublot, and Breitling, is also eyeing the second-hand market, which is currently largely dominated by independent shops and online platforms such as eBay, Amazon and Chrono24. Much of this business is over the internet.