Second-hand Royal Oak: Audemars Piguet launches its own platform, The Watch Keepers
Audemars Piguet now sells pre-owned watches itself: the online platform The Watch Keepers launches in Europe and Switzerland, with checks by the brand’s service centre and a two-year warranty.
Photo: Jag9889 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · Audemars Piguet · youtube.com
Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet launched its own online platform for certified pre-owned watches on 26 October. Called The Watch Keepers, it is initially available in Europe and Switzerland, with other regions to follow. The brand presents the service in a video on its YouTube channel. According to Monochrome Watches, users are guided by “Expert Watch Keepers” – real staff members represented as digital avatars.
Sellers register, enter the serial number and prove that they own the watch. Models whose first sale was at least two years ago are eligible. An insured courier takes the watch to the brand's customer service, where watchmakers check it against the archive registers and grade the case, dial and bracelet on a five-point scale. The seller chooses a fixed price or bidding and remains the owner until the sale.
According to Watchonista and HiConsumption, around 100 watches are listed at any one time. Buyers receive a certificate of authenticity and a two-year warranty; only sellers pay a commission, the rate of which has not been disclosed. Rolex launched its own pre-owned programme in 2022, which runs through authorised dealers. Former Audemars Piguet chief executive François-Henry Bennahmias called the second-hand market “the next big thing in the watch industry” in a 2018 interview with Reuters.