Geneva
SWISS luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet said it would launch a second-hand business this year, becoming the first big brand to announce plans to tap into a fast-growing market for pre-owned premium watches.
The company told Reuters it had carried out a test run in one store in Geneva and would launch the business more widely at its outlets in Switzerland this year. If this proved successful, it said it would roll out the operation in the United States and Japan.
"Second-hand is the next big thing in the watch industry," chief executive Francois-Henry Bennahmias told Reuters in an interview at the SIHH watch fair in Geneva this week.
Luxury watchmakers have hitherto eschewed the second-hand...