Luxury watchmaker Rolex SA will start issuing certificates of authenticity to authorised dealers selling pre-owned Rolex watches.
According to the report, Bucherer, a Swiss retailer, will be the first to start offering pre-owned Rolex watches that have been certified as authentic by the brand at its retail locations across Europe.
The report also stated that other authorised Rolex dealers can start taking part in the initiative in the spring of 2023.
In an effort to deter market flippers who sell recently released watches above retail, Rolex stated that it will only certify timepieces that have been purchased at least three years prior.
Rolex, a luxury brand whose timepieces predominate in secondhand sales through dealers and online, is making a dramatic turn by authenticating its own used watches. Deloitte predicts that the market for high-end used watches would reach $35 billion by 2030.
Prior to this, Rolex did not play a part in authenticating or monitoring the products it supplied to its dealer network. Additionally, the action will help to strengthen its brand and weed out fakes.
Auction houses and unlicensed sellers of used watches both offline and online will not be permitted to take part in the programme.
Secondhand watches have already been certified by other Swiss watchmakers. The majority of pre-owned timepieces sold are Rolex watches.
Independent brands like H. Moser & Cie and MB&F, as well as smaller rival brands like Vacheron Constantin and Zenith, sell pre-owned watches in their own boutiques. Richemont, which owns Vacheron as well as a stable of brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, and A. Lange & Sohne, purchased online retailer Watchfinder in 2018.
Authorized dealers may occasionally sell certified pre-owned timepieces through the programme at a premium to those offered at retail rates for new watches in rare circumstances. These models include enduringly well-liked categories like the Rolex Submariner, Daytona, and GMT that frequently sell above retail pricing because retail demand outpaces supply.
It was previously believed that the demand for luxury watches increased as a result of many wealthy customers learning about Swiss brands like Rolex, Omega, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe while confined to their houses during the pandemic.
According to estimates from Morgan Stanley, Rolex is the largest Swiss watch brand, producing over 1 million watches annually, with annual sales of roughly 8 billion Swiss francs ($8.5 billion) and a market share of close to 29 per cent.
As demand for Rolex, Omega, and Vacheron Constantin timepieces continued to soar, Swiss watch exports hit record highs in July, with prices rising to their highest levels in eight years, according to a report from Bloomberg in August.
