A select few manufactures offer certified pre-owned watches for sale.
- Rolex
The first to take this on was Rolex, introduced their Rolex Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Programme in December 2022, and subsequently rolled out in the United States in May 2023. Their program, available through select boutiques (such as Tourneau | Bucherer locations, followed by Watches of Switzerland) that have the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned plaque, is available for watches more than 3 years old, and has a Rolex Certified Pre-Owned seal that comes with your watch to certify its status as a certified second-hand Rolex watch, and attests to its authenticity on the date of purchase and, in addition to functioning correctly, is accompanied by an international two-year guarantee. And to answer the question that you have…the prices are not determined by Rolex, but rather set by the Official Rolex reseller.
- Cartier
In March 2023, Cartier entered the pre-owned market leveraging Watchfinder (like Cartier, a Richemont subsidiary), as it’s “official Pre-Owned partner.” Watchfinder will be in charge of the verification and authentication process for Cartier’s pre-owned watches, and buyers will benefit from a two-year warranty issued directly by Cartier. This is also tied to a Cartier part-exchange service in partnership with Watchfinder, available in selected boutiques, which allows collectors the opportunity to exchange any Cartier timepiece for a new timepiece.
- Chronoswiss
Chronoswiss certified pre-owned watches offers collectors the change to purchase pieces no longer in production. These may be found exclusively on their online boutique.
Each Chronoswiss certified pre-owned timepiece has had a complete service of the movement, with replace parts with original spare parts if necessary, and the external parts are meticulously polished. As with the warranty from other certified pre-owned programmes, Chronoswiss certified pre-owned watches carry an international two-year warranty.