A new player rises in the pre-owned watch market

There has been much talk about the expansion of the digital marketplace in the watch industry recently, as brand after brand (most recently Omega) slowly get themselves onboard in ways that (hopefully) cause rifts within their longstanding retail networks.

Danny Govberg of Govberg Jewelers in Philadelphia, and Liam Wee Tay, former owner of Sincere Watch in Asia, are no strangers to the world of watch retail, and with their recent partnership on the launch of WatchBox, the duo is looking to expand their reach in the pre-owned watch world.

“For us it’s all about creating a seamless way for people to buy, sell, and trade with transparency,” stated Danny in a recent phone interview. Both the U.S. and Hong Kong have a significant volume of pre-owned timepieces trading hands on any given day, and by establishing bases in both centres the duo — along with CMIA Capital Partners who have invested a significant US$100 ($A131) million in seed capital — intent to become the market’s premier destination.

Through a combination of a web portal and a mobile app, customers are able to browse and purchase from a vast pre-owned inventory (1448 pieces at time of publishing), as well as connect directly with a knowledgeable member of their team to assess the value of their own watch to then either sell or trade.

With the mobile app, users can also read up on the latest industry news from a wide range of publications, and through the app’s WatchBox tab, they can even catalogue and keep track of their own personal collection, as the app will display a graphing of the current projected market value of each piece.