Secondary Market Watch Sales to Exceed New Models Within a Decade
High demand for Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet driving growth
According to a new industry report, watch sales on the secondary market will exceed those of new models within 10 years, especially due to high demand for Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, which together form 55% of the entire resale market. According to LuxeConsult, a Swiss-based analysis and consulting firm, the secondary market will reach a sales volume of 79 billion euros ($85 billion) in 2033, more than triple the 25 billion euros sold in 2022. According to this analysis conducted with the help of Morgan Stanley, the value of used watch sales increased by 20% in 2022, 8 percentage points more than the market for new watches, which exceeded 50 billion euros. Despite the period of economic recession and the general slump in the watch market, LuxeConsult expects secondary market sales to increase by only 3% in 2023, 10% in 2024, and from 2025 to 2033 to record an average annual growth rate of 12%. In contrast, sales of new watches would be limited to an average rate of 4%. LuxeConsult's is a very optimistic estimate. In fact, another recent report by Deloitte estimated absolute growth in the secondary market of 75% by 2030, worth $30 billion.
This scenario is very similar to that described by another report conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) with the support of pre-owned luxury watch leader WatchBox, for which the watch market will be worth more than $100 billion by 2026.
According to the analysis conducted on the 2022 data, the performance of the retail sale of new watches was estimated by BCG to be worth $55 billion, plus the estimated value of the used watch market of $24 billion, for a total value of $79 billion. Based on these values, BCG forecasts that from 2023 to 2026 the market for new watches will grow by 7%, valuing retail sales at $66 billion in 2026, a smaller percentage than the secondary market, for which the forecast stands at 9%. All this would coincide with increase in the value of the overall market by 50% from 2019, the last year before the pandemic, which translates into optimistic growth expectations for the entire industry despite the price drop in secondary market and the continued downward pressure on prices.
Related posts: