Pre-Owned Watch Sales Spiked by 160% in April Ahead of Trump's Potential Tariffs
In the wake of President Trump's potential tariffs, which were announced in early April, watch collectors responded by snapping up pre-owned timepieces on the secondary market, Bloomberg reported.
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Subdial—a watch dealer and trading platform—usually sees a rush of purchases once payday comes around at the month's end. This time, though, was a little bit different: The site saw its sales jump a whopping 160 percent higher than normal levels, towering over the typical payday increase of 112 percent of other months this year. The U.S. and the U.K. in particular saw an abundance of growth, Christy Davis, Subdial's founder, told Bloomberg.
A similar response to the administration's potential tariffs can be seen in Swiss watch exports, too. Last month, watchmakers and retailers across the world were clamoring to get their hands on timepieces from Switzerland before the levies began. As a result, 1.3 million watches—totaling $3 billion—left the European country in April, an 18 percent increase from the same time last year. The U.S., once again, had a strong reaction to Trump's announcement, with stateside exports skyrocketing a whopping 149 percent during the month. The hike is likely a direct response to the tariffs and not indicative of an increase demand, Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at investment firm Vontobel, told Bloomberg at the time. As for the rest of world, watch exports actually dropped by 6.4 percent in April.
This latest pre-owned Rollie hot streak comes after reports that the demand for gold Rolexes on the secondary market is on the rise, with a trio of timepieces from the brand jumping the most spots on Bloomberg's Subdial Watch Index since its inception.
The prices of pre-owned Rolexes, as well as Patek Philippes, fell to a three-year low in 2024 after ballooning during the pandemic lockdowns. Through May, Bloomberg's Subdial Watch Index has risen about 5.3 percent, similar to what the market looked like last October, according to the publication. How the secondary market will respond to more levies is an open question. In the meantime, watch obsessives are sure to stay tuned.
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