Rolex has entered the secondary market chat. On December 1, the Swiss watchmaker announced its Certified Pre-Owned program, which allows authorized distributors to sell secondary Rolex timepieces — but only the ones that the Crown itself has authenticated.
Rolex wasted no time in getting the ball rolling, launching the program at Bucherer stores in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Denmark, and the United Kingdom.
Don't worry, US Rolex heads. Rolex's CPO program will expand to other retailers in Spring 2023, potentially including some stateside dealers.
When copping a Rolex-certified pre-owned watch, buyers will receive a two-year warranty card and Certified Pre-Owned guarantee card, which serves as an official thumbs-up from Rolex.
A CPO seal also accompanies each purchase (sneakerheads, think StockX's tags).
It's no secret that sketchy sellers, counterfeit items, and outrageous prices comprise the hectic secondary luxury market, timepieces included (Omega and Swatch's Moonswatch can attest).
To combat some of those issues head-on, Rolex will only accept watches three years or older, hoping to curb resellers who infamously hike up prices on new models. Plus, Crown will also work to weed out fake Rollies, as musicians like to call them.
Rolex's watches are in as high-demand at retail as they are for resale, with the brand's timepieces pretty much dominating the secondary luxury watch market.
Not to mention, Rolex joins a host of other watch labels who've recently decided to nab a piece of the secondary pie. Names like Richemont and Hodinkee acquired watch reseller platforms, while others like Audemars Piguet and Cartier kickstarted their own CPO initiatives.
I'd also want in on the action if my products were selling on a market valued at $20 billion and expected to grow even more.
However, Rolex stated its "aim is to bring added value to the existing supply of pre-owned Rolex watches" with its CPO program.
Nonetheless, there's certainly no arguing about the good feeling of knowing your pre-owned Rollie got the "all good" from the famed Swiss watch manufacturer itself.
