Business News: Audemars Piguet Unveils 'The Watch Keepers' - A Digital Platform Offering Certified Pre-Owned Watches
Audemars Piguet, best known for its Royal Oak model, is starting its long-anticipated certified pre-owned watch service program, launching a digital platform called 'The Watch Keepers' that will bring together buyers and sellers of the Swiss brand's watches inspected and guaranteed by the company's in-house experts. Images courtesy Audemars Piguet Designed as a digital marketplace, the program will roll out in Switzerland and Europe starting today and will facilitate sales of pre-owned Audemars Piguet watches at least two years old. Approved sellers will securely ship watches to the brand, where Audemars Piguet will examine and certify them as genuine and authentic. The brand will then photograph the watches, document them with listing details, and list them for sale at a set price or via bidding on The Watch Keepers platform, offering them to potential approved buyers using the service. Audemars Piguet will hold and store the watches until they sell and will facilitate delivery to buyers, who will receive a two-year functioning service guarantee on timepieces purchased on the platform. However, the seller will remain the owner of the watches until they are sold and delivered to a new owner. The launch of the Audemars Piguet CPO program marks a significant expansion of the brand's sales channels, as it already sells most of its new watches through company-owned boutiques. It also further legitimizes the secondary, or pre-owned, watch market and follows Rolex's entry into...