WatchChoice.com has seen a dramatic increase in recent months in the interest being shown towards luxury watches that have already had a previous owner. While some people call them second hand watches, others say “used” while others prefer “pre owned” or even “pre loved” but whatever your term of choice, the market for quality pre owned luxury watches is increasing in popularity.
As the Global Economic Crisis deepens and the luxury watch market slows, more luxury watch buyers on WatchChoice.com are shifting their attention from new luxury watches to used watches. Glenn Palmer, WatchChoice.com’s Founder and Owner, says comments from Watch Choice enthusiasts points to a number of reasons for the rise in interest in the second hand market. The slow economy and the concern about whether the economy will decline further or when it will bounce back has resulted in low degrees of confidence in buyer’s prospective financial circumstances. That means buyers planning to purchase a luxury watch have found it more difficult to justify the outlay and have turned to the second hand watch market as a cost effective way to get a luxury watch on their wrist.
Other comments from luxury watch collectors shows the current economic environment has also affected their buying habits. Some collectors have reported they are more inclined to sell one or more luxury watches from their collection to raise money for the purchase of their next watch where previously they may have simply just added watches to their collection. Collectors who become sellers before buying have therefore added to the number of pre owned watches on the market.
Luxury watch buyers in countries that have in recent times experienced substantial currency rate drops, such as Australia, against stronger currencies such as the US dollar, English pound and the Euro have seen substantially increased watch prices. Buyers in these countries are particularly looking for the best value and are looking to quality second hand watches to meet their luxury watch needs.
Glenn Palmer says that the new levels of interest in used watches is likely to continue for at least as long as the economic climate remains depressed and possibly longer. He says “we could see increased levels of interest in used watches maintained in the long term as the current economic climate has introduced buyers who would not have traditionally considered buying a second hand watch to the value and variety of the second hand watch market”. It will be interesting to see whether used watch sales return to their usual levels when the economy recovers.
