【Spain】These Young Spaniards Have Unleashed a Craze for Luxury Watches: “They Think It’s a Steal”

These young Spaniards have unleashed a craze for luxury watches: “They think it’s a steal.” A group of influencers is driving the phenomenon by disseminating content on social media about luxury watches, which they also buy and sell. Although some models can be profitable, experts urge caution.

Two influencer jewelers joke before closing a deal in an office in downtown Miami.

the seller warns the prospective buyer before asking him for $100,000 for a rare gold model from the brand Patek Philippe.

asks the buyer about the watch designed and sold under strict exclusivity conditions by the Swiss firm. They reach an agreement for $96,000, but on the desk and on their wrists are watches that are much more expensive. The buyer is named Carlos Marcelín and has created a social media empire that is now reaching Spain.
Dozens of men, generally young, are driving the creation of similar content around the luxury watch market. They exploit the price escalation of these items to promote their acquisition as investment assets, posing an alternative to classics like gold, stocks, or real estate. They are the visible faces of a growing second-hand market, as the production of some models from major brands has failed to meet demand for many years.

When Marcelín visits Spain, he gathers dozens of fans on the streets of major cities like Madrid or Seville. They approach him to take a photo or ask for advice on how to follow in his footsteps. His videos negotiating watches for hundreds of thousands of dollars arrive like a siren song for those who wish to bet on a different investment. There are also those who imitate his more educational side and generate explanatory content about how watches work and should be properly preserved.

explains Alejandro R., known on social media as El tiempo de Alex.

The most-watched video on Alejandro’s YouTube channel explains how to identify a fake Rolex, the leading brand in luxury watchmaking. Although he does not directly sell watches, he has done advertising collaborations with some brands. Daily, he receives inquiries from young people interested in

and students or recent graduates with savings who want to acquire “a good piece to show off.” The question he is asked most frequently is

explains the young man who gathers nearly 60,000 followers across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok with videos about watch curiosities.

According to the Watches & Jewelry Study 2024 report by Global Blue, the firm that manages tax refunds for tourists worldwide, watchmaking leads international tourist spending in Europe with a year-on-year growth of 33% in 2024, recording an average spending per buyer of 8,900 euros. At the same time, Fortune Business Insights specifies that the size of the global luxury watch market was valued at $53.69 billion last year. The projection for 2025 was close to $60 billion, and by 2032 it would reach $134 billion. Furthermore, by 2032, the US luxury watch market alone would reach $19 billion.
For the latter to be possible, the 39% tariffs that Trump had imposed on Swiss products represented a major obstacle, but the large companies in the sector launched a crusade to eliminate it. First, the CEO of Rolex appeared alongside the US president at the US Open final in September, and then at the beginning of this month he led a delegation of several watch companies to negotiate directly at the White House. Trump himself later confirmed that he was working on an agreement to reduce tariffs on Swiss imports, and a member of his administration announced on social media on Friday, November 14, the reduction of tariffs on Swiss products from 39% to 15%.
Although the Spanish luxury watch market that moves through social networks is not based on new pieces, it is conditioned by their availability. Therefore, the delays caused by the pandemic in the production and distribution of new watches caused an increase in the prices of used pieces.