Editor’s Note
Rolex is making a significant move in the Chinese market by launching its first directly-operated store in Shanghai, which will sell both new and pre-owned watches and offer recycling services. This marks a strategic expansion into the certified pre-owned segment for the luxury watchmaker.
Swiss luxury watch brand Rolex has announced it will launch pre-owned watch sales in China. Rolex will open its first directly-operated store in the Chinese market in Shanghai. This store will not only sell both new and pre-owned Rolex watches but will also handle Rolex watch recycling services. Additionally, the brand’s Oriental Watch Company store on Queen’s Road Central in Hong Kong, China, has already taken the lead as the first store to physically display pre-owned Rolex watches offline, with sales also available on its official website.
Recently, the headquarters of Swiss watch and jewelry retailer Bucherer has confirmed that it will open China’s first Rolex brand directly-operated store in Shanghai’s Taikoo Li Xintiandi, though the specific opening date has not yet been announced. This is Rolex’s first directly-operated store in the Chinese market, nominally belonging to the previously acquired Bucherer Group. Furthermore, the second floor of this store will house a Rolex officially authorized pre-owned watch shop, which will sell both new and pre-owned Rolex watches and handle recycling services. Up until now, Rolex has had no directly-operated stores in the Chinese market; all current counters are operated by distributors.
In August 2023, the Rolex Group announced the acquisition of Bucherer, retaining its name and continuing its independent operation, with the group’s management team remaining unchanged. Since 1924, Bucherer has been an official retailer for Rolex.
Rolex announced its entry into the pre-owned watch market at the end of 2022, launching the new “The Rolex Certified Pre-Owned” program. The brand initially collaborated with Bucherer to launch this program in specific stores across six countries: Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, later opening it to distributors in other countries and regions. Consumers can purchase pre-owned watches certified as genuine by Rolex and sold for at least three years at specific Rolex stores.
Official certified pre-owned watches come with the original warranty card and an additional “Rolex Certified Pre-Owned Warranty” card to ensure the watch functions properly. These watches meet Rolex’s consistent and uniform quality standards for its products and come with a two-year global warranty, effective from the date of resale within the Rolex sales network.
In August of this year, Rolex filed a patent application with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) aimed at issuing identity certificates for its watches. According to the patent application documents, Rolex demonstrated an integrated solution including a special warranty card and a smartphone application for storing data about individuals, watches, and security keys.
This identity certificate is linked to the watch and is an NFC (Near Field Communication) chip card or QR code card. Retailers and customers can access various data and information about the watch via a specific webpage by identifying the card chip or scanning the QR code with a smartphone camera. This chip or QR code will contain information about the watch, its service history, and its owner, with the data securely stored on an immutable blockchain.
By 2030, the pre-owned watch market is projected to grow to 35 billion Swiss francs, accounting for more than half of the primary market. Trends such as watch brands launching their own pre-owned sales channels, the expansion of online and offline pre-owned sales channels, and consumer demand for discounted or discontinued watches will contribute to this growth momentum.
Although Swiss watch exports have declined this year after three consecutive years of record sales levels, mainly due to inflation and exchange rate factors, consumers are becoming more cautious. Global market demand for Swiss watches is becoming more prudent, especially for hard luxury watches which have encountered setbacks in Greater China. In the first eight months of this year, total global Swiss watch exports amounted to approximately 17.1 billion Swiss francs, a decrease of 1.4% compared to the same period last year.
Nevertheless, the luxury industry overall remains optimistic about the future. Last week, buoyed by positive Chinese economic policies, stocks of luxury groups such as LVMH, Hermès, Swatch Group, Kering, and Richemont all rose.