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.
Brands that continue to ignore the secondary market may face future challenges, and initiatives like Vacheron Constantin's 'blessing' of neo-vintage pieces are a step in the right direction.

The Discussion

amanico

Sep 26, 2024

The big problem with the JLC program is the totally lunar price they sell these watches. A Polaris above 50 K euros, while you find them around 20 / 25 K in the " real market ". Same for all their other vintage watches.

halkcb

Sep 26, 2024

It would be interesting to see the returns from this programme and it success, or otherwise

amanico

Sep 26, 2024

They state that the watches are sold out, but I really wonder who buy watches which are twice, three time or even more the price!

@lberti

Sep 27, 2024

people that want to have peace of mind, when buying a vintage watch... there's no better seller of vintage jlc's, but jlc themselves....

...yes, obviously, they buyers have the necessary cash too

amanico

Sep 27, 2024

There are some good dealers of vintage watches which provide quality watches at a certain price, but much more reasonable, compared to what JLC offers with their " Collectible " program.

this_hobby_of_hours

Nov 6, 2024

I agree. The majority of the folks

that are on forums like ours are not going to be the main target audience.

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