Turnover Soared By 239% In The First Half Of 2021

? ? ? ? As the epidemic moves into the second half, the overall market recovery is no longer news. In June this year, Swiss wristwatch exports reached 2 billion Swiss francs, an increase of 12.5% over the same period in 2019. The rebound in luxury watch industry in the first half of 2021 not only makes the primary market achieve good results, but also brings a lot of surprises in the secondary auction market.

The hammertrack auction market report for the first half of 2021, released by the mercury project, a professional watch consulting firm, shows that several leading auction houses - Christie's, Fortis, Sotheby's, antigruen, Bonhams and poly Auctions - sold 8383 watches in the first half of the past year, of which 18 watches sold for more than 1 million Swiss francs. In the first half of the year, the total auction turnover reached 241 million Swiss francs (equivalent to about 1.705 billion yuan), up 239% compared with the same period last year and 49% higher than that in 2019, making exciting and groundbreaking progress. "With such growth, the total auction price of wristwatch market this year will break through the 400 million Swiss Franc mark, surpassing the 390 million Swiss Franc total transaction price in 2019," the report predicts

As early as the spring of this year, major auction houses have successively restarted offline auctions, but the repeated epidemic has not slowed down the sales growth of online auctions. Of the 64 auctions organized in the first half of this year, 38 are online auctions. The total sales of offline wristwatch auctions reached 205.2 million Swiss francs, up 38% from the same period in 2019. Compared with the same period in 2019, online auction transactions increased by 486% in the first half of 2021 to CHF 54 million, accounting for 22% of the total auction volume. The average prices of watches sold on the spot and online are 59345 Swiss francs and 10298 Swiss francs, equivalent to about 419800 yuan and 72800 yuan.

? ? ? A large number of online auctions have sprung up like mushrooms, providing new bidders with a variety of fresh products, leading to the popularity of online auctions. This year, more young collectors under 40 and new international bidders have flocked to the watch auction market. For example, among Sotheby's watch buyers, the number of Singaporean buyers under 40 almost doubled this year, from 12% in 2017 to 29% in 2020. Christie's Dubai auction in March attracted 558 bidders from 37 countries, many of whom were first-time bidders from Norway, Ethiopia and Uganda. Two months ago, the number of online bidders increased by 30%. Thierry Huron, founder of the mercury project, said: "from 22 in 2019 to 144 in 2020, the rise of online auctions has attracted more young audiences - they are a new generation of collectors eager to get value for money. Although they are not sensitive enough to watches at all prices, Patek Philippe and Rolex are undoubtedly the most popular brands

? ? ? Among many famous watch brands, Patek Philippe continued to dominate the auction market in the first half of the year with sales of CHF 81 million, almost four times as much as Rolex, the second most famous watch brand. What is most unexpected is that f.p.journe, a young watch making brand from France, suddenly took off in the first half of this year, becoming the "black horse" among the top three best-selling brands. Patek Philippe produces about 60000 watches a year, Rolex produces one million, while F.P. journe, which pursues "less but better", produces less than 1000 watches a year. However, in the first half of this year, F.P. journe received 9.8 million Swiss francs in sales of 44 wristwatches, almost equal to Rolex, which sold 88 watches and sold 21.1 million Swiss francs.

? ? ? In the first half of this year, there were eight auctions of watches with a total amount of more than 10 million Swiss francs, including four held by Christie's, two by faeries and two by antigruen. Among the watches priced at more than 1 million Swiss francs, Christie's successfully sold 9 watches, Fays sold 5 watches, poly auction and Sotheby's each sold one. On the whole, Christie's has undoubtedly become the "bellwether" of auction houses in the wristwatch field with the offensive in spring and summer 2021. Its sales have almost doubled since 2019, reaching a record high of 84.5 million Swiss francs in the first half of 2021.

? ? ? ? But Christie's strategy is also very simple, mainly through the planning of a series of more inclusive "reasonable price" watches to attract the attention of young people and novice collectors around the world. "Online auctions offer more different types of watches, making it easier to meet the needs of new buyers, especially millennials who have just joined the traditional watch collection circle," the report said

? ? ? "In the first half of this year, Christie's watch teams in Dubai, Geneva, Hong Kong and New York performed exceptionally well," said aline Sylla Walbaum, global managing director of Christie's luxury goods division. Not only has planned the rare, the importance and the extremely high value level diversification famous watch auction, but also has opened the market for the bigger customer group. Whether it's the classic legendary wristwatch you wear every day, watch players who just started collecting them, or customers who have been searching for rare watches for decades, they can satisfy their wishes. " Up to now, Christie's has planned 18 watch auctions, 14 of which are online auctions, with an average price of about 7800 Swiss francs per watch (equivalent to about 55176 yuan).

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