Luxury Watch CPO Market: Buyback & Certified Pre-Owned

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In a compelling post, WatchProSite member this_hobby_of_hours advocates for luxury watch brands, specifically Girard-Perregaux, to embrace Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) programs and prioritize their heritage departments. Drawing inspiration from Jaeger-LeCoultre's recent initiatives, the author argues that a robust CPO strategy, coupled with accessible historical archives, can significantly enhance brand perception and uplift the value of current production watches. This discussion explores the strategic imperative for brands to connect with collectors through their storied past.

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Friends,

Look at this article that came out today about JLC and their heritage CPO projects. Bravo to JLC. ��

cnaluxury.channelnewsasia.com

This is what I’ve been asking GP management to do for the last 2 years.

Buy back special vintage and NEO-vintage pieces from the open market. Restore and resell. And this will lead to greater awareness to the heritage of the brand and lift the appreciation of current production watches as well.

I learn so much from newspaper archives and deconstruction articles from the likes of the The Naked Watchmaker and old posts by PETER CDE here in WPS. I share what I learn with you guys. I recommend what is collectible and that I myself have in my collection.

But the GP heritage department really needs to step up and come up with better public accessible archives and look at itself as part of the sales enablement team.

As I said in an earlier post, horse before cart and not cart before horse. Heritage is currently treated as an afterthought. It should be a PRIORITY.

Heritage is what sells watches. The very nature of watches today centers itself around a pillar of heritage. Heritage that is proven and relatable. Facts and not bits and pieces jumbled across the internet.

GP management needs to understand that they are sitting on a goldmine of heritage archives that they can monetise by coupling it with with CPO program.

Again, true understanding of the psychology of the collector is the weak-link in the GP strategy today.

Thoughts, comments, questions … all welcomed.

��

This message has been edited by India Whiskey Charlie on 2024-09-26 11:02:19

Key Points from the Discussion

A brand-backed CPO program could address collector fears of fakes and 'wrong' purchases in the secondary market, offering a 'safe' choice akin to buying new from an Authorized Dealer.
While acknowledging the benefits of secondary market discounts, the contributor expresses concern that bundling practices, where desirable watches are paired with less popular ones, degrade brand image and artificially depress secondary market prices for brands like Girard-Perregaux.
The idea of brands like Girard-Perregaux leveraging their heritage through CPO programs, similar to JLC, is seen as an obvious move, especially given the significant depreciation both brands have experienced in the secondary market.
There's a distinction between a 'serviced and authenticated' CPO watch and a 'fully restored' piece that looks like new old stock. The latter, akin to Porsche's vintage car restorations, would justify higher pricing for a CPO program.
The contributor suggests that if brands approached CPO as a heritage education program rather than solely a money-making scheme, buying back and reselling pieces like the Laureato 8010 with a warranty at a modest markup, could attract significant collector interest.
Many casual watch buyers are overwhelmed by the secondary market and lack the confidence to navigate it, often relying on 'group think' and brand badges, which a CPO program could simplify.

The Discussion

KMII

Sep 26, 2024

If they up the story aspect on the one hand and do not overdo it on the price front

Aquaracer1

Sep 26, 2024

I agree that GP could open their eyes more regarding the psychology of the collector. Leaning on their heritage seems like an obvious move. It would be cool if they started a program such as JLC. We’ve all seen the deep depreciation taken on by both of these brands in the secondary market. Is it possible GP has not considered this for that reason? Just thinking out loud here, but I capitalized on secondary price with both brands this year. I have no qualms about the high value quotient for

Aquaracer1

Sep 26, 2024

Why would someone pay double the price , when all it takes is some simple market research prior to purchase. I would say this only applies to us watch enthusiasts. BUT. My process is no different before I buy a car, TV or appliance for example. Shop around, do your diligence!

Fastwong

Sep 26, 2024

Getting something fully restored that looks like a NOS watch that popped out of a time capsule would be quite the thing, but this is just a serviced and authenticated watch? Porsche does restorations of select vintage cars. It's not cheap, but what you get is a vintage car that looks like it just rolled off the assembly line and done as only Porsche can. I would be more supportive of the crazy pricing if JLC did a little more work on the watches

this_hobby_of_hours

Sep 26, 2024

Definitely true that we should all take advantage of the secondary market prices and their deep discounts. The worrying thing is the degradation of the brand image which we all (I hope also care about). It also is worrying as bundling is the root cause of the disastrous secondary market prices. Artificial supply at artificially low prices. Summary … want a patek, buy two GPs. Buyer walks out of the shop and dumps the two GPs after it’s bundled with the patek. I’ve talked about this extensively s

patrick_y

Sep 26, 2024

The Vacheron Les Collectionneurs program was more reasonable - at least in the beginning. I'd say now Vacheron Constantin is all over the place.

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Luxury Watch CPO Market: Buyback & Certified Pre-Owned

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