Asia powers $25B pre-owned luxury watch market

While luxury consumers typically pursue the next shiny new thing, recent data suggests they’re now hunting for the opposite. The secondary market for pre-owned luxury watches reached $25 billion in 2024, according to a Morgan Stanley report. Across the APAC region, which leads the world in luxury goods consumption, popular watch brands are opening new direct-to-consumer stores. This move is intended to capture the growing local clientele and assert dominance amid a rising tide of watch “flippers.” Out with the old, in with the older New York-based watch expert Steve Fishman has been buying and selling vintage watches and jewelry in Asia for around 25 years. He said the Japanese market has always been his most reliable source of buyers. “Now, Japan’s currency dilution has put some pressure on the watch market, and they have become some of the most avid sellers,” he tells Jing Daily. A survey by Deloitte reveals that 49% of global consumers, including those in Japan, are interested in purchasing pre-owned timepieces because they are more affordable than new watches. Similarly, the mainland Chinese market is emerging as a base of well-informed buyers. That said, it’s impossible to ignore the impact of China’s slowing economy, with luxury consumers now more hesitant to acquire assets. Both Richemont and Swatch Group AG reported decreased sales in China in 2024, though many experts believe the market will soon recover. “The pre-owned watch market in Asia has always been robust and globally significant,” says Austen Chu, founder and CEO of Wristcheck trading platform. Brynn Wallner, founder of Dimepiece, an online platform that educates women about watches, shares insights into evolving buying trends. While younger buyers are largely drawn to pre-owned watches for their aesthetic appeal and affordability, serious collectors typically rely on either a wealth of knowledge or a trusted dealer to make informed purchases. Asia’s rising watch collectors Although the U.S. and Europe have long been key watch markets, APAC is rapidly closing the gap, with more Asian collectors now financially able to acquire rare vintage pieces and willing to hold onto them for the next 10 to 20 years, according to auction house Phillips. In January, Phillips announced that its watches division hit $200 million in sales for four years consecutively, affirming its market leadership in Hong Kong, Geneva, and New York. Sharon Chan, director of watches at auction house Bonhams, noted that a decade ago, most buyers in Hong Kong were between 40 and 60 years old. Today, that demographic has shifted to buyers in their late 20s to 50s. “Many of our collectors are still at university and belong to groups of watch geeks who started collecting at a very young age — even though they might have had a limited budget,” she told the media. Fishman, the watch expert, shares that younger clients often wish for an “unusually designed watch,” such as those from Piaget and Corum. “They had creative design workshops which produced unusual cases, hardstone dials, and hand-produced bracelets,” he explains. Recent watches tend to have a uniform aesthetic that fails to satisfy — at least so far. How luxury brands are adapting With price premiums in the market stabilizing after Covid-19, more consumers are opting for pre-owned watches instead of competing for primary market availability. In response, watch brands have begun expanding their retail presence across APAC, according to Wristcheck’s Chu. For instance, Audemars Piguet opened two new “AP House” locations in Singapore and Seoul at the end of 2024, while Cartier launched a Macau collection as part of a larger exhibition at DFS Macau. Although the Cartier display was a pop-up, it shows that brands are attuned to the changing market signals in the region. Consumers are eager to buy — and to buy now — which creates significant opportunities for pre-owned platforms like Wristcheck, but leaves traditional brand DTC locations out of the equation. To address this, brands can explore their own certified pre-owned marketplaces or introduce trade-in programs, similar to what Rolex has done. Chu notes that brands are also releasing watches in sizes and styles that suit Asian preferences. But what exactly do the locals want? “While we sell a lot of watches to the U.S., the preference for smaller case sizes in general is undeniable. I believe a significant portion of this demand is driven by Asian collectors,” he says. Dimepiece’s Wallner echoes this sentiment, noting that smaller watches, along with more visually unique pieces, are especially popular in Asia. Ultimately, the APAC region is poised for exponential growth and opportunity, particularly in the pre-owned watch market. While consumer uncertainty may prompt some to sell their pieces back into circulation, eager buyers are poised, waiting with baited breath for their next coveted accessory.

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Asia powers $25B pre-owned luxury watch market