Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s ‘watch hub’ draws luxury pre-owned trading platform Watchbox
Watchbox has selected Hong Kong for its first foray outside the US, providing an online marketplace for the trade in second-hand luxury watches – with a warranty
Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s watch hub made it a natural choice for the co-location of Watchbox, a US based e-commerce platform focused on pre-owned luxury watches, backed by venture capital from Singapore, according to its founders.
Watchbox debuted in Hong Kong six months ago, reflecting the first time the platform has extended itself physically outside the US, as part of a collective effort by four luxury watch industry veterans, including Watchbox founder and CEO Daniel Govberg.
“We are all from the primary sector. We know how to deliver the high quality and standards and are now going to do that for the secondary [market],” said Govberg, who is also CEO of Govberg Jewelers.
Govberg first started selling pre-owned watches in 1983 through his family business and created WatchBox in collaboration with Tay Liam-wee, the former owner of Sincere Watch.
Govberg Jewelers remains a separate business focused on the sale of new watches, while watch trade-ins are resold in the pre-owned market via Watchbox.
“The market for pre-owned [watches] has got so big. The consumer is driving this, not myself but the consumer with 15 watches who would like the opportunity to be able to sell them,” Govberg said.