In our latest regional overview of watch industry trends, we explored how consumer preferences vary across markets — from blockchain applications to experiential boutique concepts. Yet one trend stands out for its global relevance: the rapid rise of pre-owned timepieces and authorised Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) programmes.
Once a niche segment, certified pre-owned watches are moving into the mainstream, reshaping how luxury brands think about value, access, and long-term brand equity (Deloitte, 2024). This evolution is explored in Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Insights 2024: Spotlight on the Pre-Owned Market — the third industry spotlight released in December 2024.
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Let’s explore the key drivers behind the certified pre-owned market, its size and growth projections, and the role distributors play in enabling scalable, brand-safe expansion.
What “Certified Pre‑Owned” Really Means Today
Certified pre-owned watches are second-hand timepieces that have been authenticated, serviced, and guaranteed either by the original brand or by an approved specialist reseller (Deloitte, 2024). They typically come with an official warranty, service history, and condition report, which clearly distinguishes them from the grey market or casual peer-to-peer resales (Deloitte, 2024).
For brands and authorized retailers, CPO has become a strategic extension of the primary market rather than a competing channel, allowing them to control pricing, condition standards, and brand storytelling across the entire lifecycle of a watch (Deloitte, 2024).
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Market Size and Growth Momentum
The secondary watch market has grown much faster than the primary market, driven by scarcity of new pieces, collector culture, and digital platforms (Robb Report, 2023). In 2022, pre-owned watch sales grew 20% to around 27 billion USD, while new watch sales rose 12% to about 56 billion USD, with forecasts suggesting the secondary segment could keep growing at low double-digit rates over the next decade (Robb Report, 2023).
Analysts project that the pre-owned segment could reach approximately 29–32 billion USD by 2025, supported by younger, more price-sensitive but brand-aware consumers (The Hour Markers, 2024). In Europe alone, the pre-owned luxury watches market is expected to rise from about 7.85 billion USD in 2024 to over 12.2 billion USD by 2031, with automatic models and men’s segments dominating share (Cognitive Market Research, 2024).
Flagship Brand Moves: Rolex, Vacheron, Breitling
The most visible signal of CPO’s strategic importance is the entry of leading maisons into structured programs. Rolex launched its Certified Pre‑Owned scheme in Europe in 2022, initially via Bucherer, and has scaled it aggressively since then (Luxury Society, 2025). By late 2025, the Rolex Certified Pre‑Owned programme generated around 594 million USD in sales, accounting for more than 10% of the brand’s overall secondary-market transactions and operating through about 246 doors in 19 countries (WatchPro, 2026).
Vacheron Constantin rolled out a global CPO programme with Watchfinder & Co., tapping into both historical pieces and recent models to reinforce its heritage narrative and attract collectors who value provenance (Luxury Society, 2025). Breitling subsequently launched its own CPO initiative via Bucherer in 2025, signalling that certified resale is becoming a core pillar of brand strategy rather than an experimental side project (Luxury Society, 2025).
These moves validate CPO as a legitimate, long-term route to growth, customer acquisition, and brand protection across global distribution networks (Deloitte, 2024).
Why CPO Is Exploding: Demand Drivers
Several demand-side forces are pushing CPO into the luxury mainstream:
- Scarcity and waitlists
Popular models from brands like Rolex and Patek Philippe are often unavailable at retail, pushing frustrated buyers toward trusted pre-owned options where availability is higher, even at a premium (Robb Report, 2023; The Hour Markers, 2024). - Price-accessible entry into luxury
CPO allows aspirational and younger consumers to access iconic references at a more attainable price point, while still receiving authentication and warranty benefits (Deloitte, 2024). 49% of the respondebts - Investment and resale mindset
A growing number of collectors treat watches as financial assets, with indices like ChronoPulse tracking secondary prices and reinforcing the idea of watches as an alternative investment class (Deloitte, 2024). - Sustainability and circular luxury
Reuse, repair, and resale fit naturally into ESG and circular-economy narratives, making CPO an attractive pillar of sustainability strategies for watch brands and groups (Deloitte, 2024).
Together, these factors make CPO not only a revenue opportunity but also a reputational and loyalty lever in the broader luxury ecosystem (Deloitte, 2024).
How CPO Is Redefining Distribution
CPO is accelerating the shift from linear to circular, omnichannel distribution in luxury watches (Deloitte, 2024). Traditionally, brands sold to authorized retailers, who then sold to the final consumer; after that, the value chain lost visibility of the product, but with CPO, new touchpoints such as trade-in, refurbishment, recertification, and resale via brand-approved channels are now integrated into the official network (Luxury Society, 2025).
Key distribution changes include:
- Brand-owned and co-branded CPO corners
Brands launch their own CPO boutiques or shop-in-shops within authorized retailers, reabsorbing secondary-market volume into official ecosystems and reinforcing brand control (Luxury Society, 2025). - Integrated trade‑in programs
Customers can trade in existing pieces for credit toward new purchases, keeping inventory and customer data within brand-managed networks and encouraging repeat business (Deloitte, 2024). - Digital-first secondary platforms
Specialist platforms such as Watchfinder, Chrono24 and WatchBox operate as authenticated, data-rich marketplaces, often partnering directly with brands and groups to institutionalise CPO (Robb Report, 2023; Luxury Society, 2025).
This circular, data-centred distribution model enhances lifetime value per watch and per client, while reinforcing brand control over pricing, authenticity, and market positioning across both primary and secondary channels (Deloitte, 2024).
Opportunities for Distributors and Retailers
For distributors, travel retail operators, and multi-brand luxury retailers, CPO creates several strategic opportunities:
- New margin pools and inventory flexibility
CPO stock, when well-curated, can deliver attractive margins and help smooth supply gaps in new models, especially where waitlists are long and allocations are tight (The Hour Markers, 2024). - Enhanced customer journey and trade‑up logic
Trade-in and upgrade programs keep clients within the same retail ecosystem, supporting cross-selling, portfolio building, and long-term relationship management (Deloitte, 2024). - Stronger omnichannel propositions
Combining physical showrooms for inspection with digital platforms for discovery, valuation, and comparison aligns with the research and purchasing habits of younger collectors and international travellers (Luxury Society, 2025; Cognitive Market Research, 2024). - Differentiation through service and trust
Certification, extended warranties, and in-house watchmaking capabilities create a trust premium relative to unregulated grey-market dealers and peer-to-peer resale (Deloitte, 2024).
For distribution partners, the winners will be those who can merge rigorous authentication, transparent pricing, and high-touch service into a seamless, omnichannel experience (Luxury Society, 2025).
Strategic Challenges and Risks
Despite its momentum, CPO brings real complexity for luxury brands and distributors:
- Channel conflict and pricing coherence
Brands must carefully manage price architecture between new and certified pre-owned pieces to avoid cannibalization or undermining perceived exclusivity and long-term value perception (Robb Report, 2023). - Inventory risk and capital intensity
Buying back, refurbishing, and holding pre-owned inventory requires capital, technical expertise, and sophisticated stock management processes (The Hour Markers, 2024). - Authentication and compliance
Counterfeits, stolen-goods risks, AML, and cross-border regulation (tax, customs, consumer rights) make compliance-heavy processes essential for CPO operators, especially as volumes scale globally (Deloitte, 2024). - Brand narrative management
Poorly curated CPO assortments or inconsistent quality standards can damage brand equity; the storytelling around patina, age, and condition must be carefully orchestrated across touchpoints (Luxury Society, 2025).
Mitigating these risks requires standardized certification protocols, strong governance, and close coordination between maisons, groups, and distribution partners (Deloitte, 2024).
Digital, Data and the Future of Luxury Distribution
CPO accelerates the datafication of luxury distribution: every trade-in, resale, and valuation event generates granular information about demand, reference popularity, and price elasticity across markets (Deloitte, 2024). Platforms and brands can use this data for forecasting, allocation, and product development, while also tailoring CRM and loyalty strategies to individual collectors’ histories and preferences (Luxury Society, 2025).
Omnichannel journeys are also becoming more mobile-first, aligning with Google’s latest core updates that reward helpful, user-centric content and smooth page experiences on smartphones (CTI Digital, 2025; Google, 2024; Damteq, 2026). For CPO operators, this means:
- Fast, mobile-optimized product pages with rich imagery, specifications, and transparent pricing.
- Content that demonstrates experience and expertise – detailed condition reports, servicing documentation, and educational guides on reference history.
- Clear internal linking between editorial content (e.g., “how CPO works”, “investment guides”) and product listings, supporting E‑E‑A‑T and topical authority in the eyes of search algorithms (Google, 2024; CTI Digital, 2025).
Over the next decade, CPO is likely to be fully embedded into mainstream luxury distribution, blurring the lines between “new” and “pre‑owned” in both store layouts and digital funnels (Deloitte, 2024; Luxury Society, 2025).
Outlook: From One-Time Sale to Lifetime Stewardship
The rise of CPO marks a broader strategic shift: from selling a single product once to stewarding its entire lifecycle across multiple owners. This lifecycle mindset supports higher total revenue per watch, reinforces brand equity, and aligns luxury with circularity expectations from regulators and consumers (Deloitte, 2024).
For luxury houses and distributors alike, the future of watch distribution will be defined by three pillars: controlled circularity through certified pre‑owned, omnichannel retail anchored in trust and expertise, and data-driven personalization that spans both primary and secondary markets (Data Bridge, 2024; Luxury Society, 2025). Those who master CPO today are effectively future-proofing their position in tomorrow’s luxury landscape.
