Rolex announced on 01/12/2022 that Rolex’s official retailers will now sell pre-owned watches that are certified as authentic with the backing of Rolex themselves, with a two-year international guarantee from the date of purchase.
Pre-owned Rolex’s have in the past month been available officially at its Bucherer boutiques in six countries (Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Denmark, and the UK). From the announcement of the crown’s participation in the grey market, consumers cheered in anticipation with the new ability to directly purchase pre-owned watches from Rolex, without the ques and waitlists.
However, the prices. Rolex reflects heavily on grey market pricing. Marking up watches to reflect them, and in cases that we have monitored in the past month of operation of this new program, most of the time they are above or around grey market pricing.
Now is this a good thing? I think it is, this will provide another source for Rolex owners to sell their watches and new Rolex owners to be able to purchase their favourite watch from an official source, with a backing of a two-year warranty and a guarantee of authenticity from Rolex itself. Charging a few extra thousand for a piece of mind, two-year warranty may appetise some, rather than going to grey market dealers. One may assume the charge this program provides will also help balloon the grey market prices of Rolex watches.
Rolex pre-owned program must charge grey market pricing or at least close to. Otherwise, they won’t get any watches. Remember this program is run on customers who wish to sell back to Authorised Dealers, if low-balled we can imagine the watches all going to grey market dealers.
A few questions this program probes:
- Will this program assist flippers?
No, Rolex has stated this program will be only for watches older than three years. So, you can’t buy a watch from a retailer to immediately sell back for profit. This does deter flippers, for three years at least..
- As we enter the world of Vintage Rolex, how will verification of original parts be done? Is this done at all?
So far, we have no way of telling. Rolex marks the watches as ‘Authentic’. No information is provided such as original papers, original dials, bezels or service dials, hands, etc. (Which if you’re into Vintage watches, is extremely important).
- When will this be available in my country?
Rolex is currently testing this program with Bucherer boutiques close to Rolex headquarters, Rolex has announced the program will allow retailers to choose to be a part of this program from spring 2023.
Current Pricing and models available can be seen on Bucherer’s website.
