Generation Z finds time for affordable second-hand luxury watches, as most of the originals were limited editions Never say new again

Rayan al Sulaimani, proprietor of atelier Zuhra, in Dubai, Recently Designed a Stunning outfit for american Singer-performer beyonce who performed at the grand opening of Atlantis the Royal, Dubai, a fortnight ago, paving the way for young omani Designers

Swiss wathes ae in high demand these days, but sales of seond-hand timepiees ae also booming, diven by Geneation Z buyes who want luxuy goods but ae also sustainability-minded. The global seond-hand wath maket is estimated at nealy 20bn Swiss fans (Us$21.7bn) and ould eah 35bn fans by 2030, aoding to a study out in tobe by the auditing and onsulting giant Deloitte.

Histoially, the povine of olletos souting fo ae wathes at aution, the seondhand maket is tuning ineasingly pofessional with the polifeation of online sales sites that veify authentiity - with even the wath manufatues themselves getting involved.

"Nowadays, thee is a ealisation that we need to onsume moe esponsibly," said Fabienne Lupo, the fome head of the Foundation High Hoology, who oganised a seond-hand luxuy wath salon in Geneva in Novembe.

The event was attended by the online aution giant ebay, the wath sales platfom Wathbox, and Swiss bands suh as Zenith.

Lupo said the aze fo seond-hand wathes ould be explained by the onsume hoies of Millennials (bon between 1980 and the late 1990s) and Geneation Z (bon between 1997 and 2010) who ae 'vey onened about the futue of the planet, and no longe want to buy new'.

Thee is also the fashion fo vintage objets "that you an't find eveywhee," she said.

And futhemoe, buying etain Swiss luxuy wathes new is getting hade, as the booming maket means longe waiting lists.

Swiss wath expots hit a new eod in 2022, limbing 11.4 pe ent yea-on-yea to 24.8bn Swiss fans, the Fedeation of the Swiss Wath Industy announed Tuesday.

"Then, thee is the digitalisation whih has aeleated with the pandemi," Lupo told AFP.

The gowth in the pe-owned wath maket is suh that the Bitish online platfom Subdial has developed an index taking the 50 mosttaded models.

The aveage pie fell fom a eod 45,000 Swiss fans in Febuay 2022 to 35,000 fans in Septembe, whih Deloitte alled a 'oetion' athe than a sign that the maket was shinking.

Sales platfoms fo etified pe-owned (CP) wathes ae multiplying online, with the seto still attating new entants, inluding the US site Bezel, whih ounts fome Disney pesident Mihael vitz, omedian Kevin Hat, and singe John Legend among its investos.

The luxuy giant Rihemont - whih owns Catie, IWC and Piaget - enteed the field as ealy as 2018, buying the Bitish platfom Wathfinde.

Rolex also took the plunge in Deembe, pulling the ug fom beneath the ountefeites by launhing a CP pogamme with the Swiss etaile Buhee, whih authentiates the wathes.

The pogamme is set up in six ounties, inluding Bitain and Fane, with the aim of extending it to the United States in the futue.

Watch your image

"Wath manufatues typially have been woied about the seonday maket as it was losely assoiated with the gey maket, whee disounted wathes ould be found," said Jon Cox, an industy analyst with the Keple Cheuveux finanial sevies ompany. "Howeve, they ealise thee is a halo effet of having stong seonday pies, enhaning the band value of the pimay wathes.

Fo top-end luxuy bands like Rihad Mille, whee aveage wath pies exeed 260,000 Swiss fans, seond-hand timepiees ae even a way of enhaning thei image.

"We might have a lient who tells us, 'thee was a limited edition of 100 wathes; it was always my deam to buy one and now I have the money - but you no longe make them and they ae almost impossible to find'," said Alexande Mille, who took ove fom his fathe who founded the band. Mille said his teams an seek out the sought-afte timepiee.

Deloitte's study found that buying a heape wath was the main motivation fo 44 pe ent of espondents. But Cox also noted that seondhand wathes wee a 'stoe of wealth', being won and shown off fo yeas but still etaining value to be esold so anothe wath an be bought in its plae.

I’m fond of ‘classy colours’ – white, black, grey and nude. I don’t have a favourite fabric as every season brings forth something beautiful Rayan al Sulaimani

On January 21, amid fireworks and glittering fanfare, Atlantis The Royal - a 43-storey cantilevered building, featuring 231 luxury apartments, 693 hotel rooms, and 102 suites - all with a view of the Arabian Sea and Palm Island, was thrown open to international guests. The highlight of the evening was an explicit performance by American singer-songwriter-dancer Beyonce who was roped in to perform for a whopping sum of US$ 24mn.

But amid all the stunning display of grandeur and grandiose at an event attended by celebrities and special invitees from around the world, Oman had its finger in the pie in a special way!

The impressive outfit in daffodil yellow worn by Beyonce (fondly known as 'Queen Bey') for the performance, was designed by young Omani designer Rayan al Sulaimani, CEO of Atelier Zuhra in Dubai.

The performance by Beyoncé assumed much importance as it was her first full concert in five years, reportedly at a price tag of Us$24mn. The megastar had not staged a fulllength concert since an appearance at the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg in 2018, but, apparently, could not refuse this ‘tempting’ offer, Sun newspaper reported.

Asked about the special privilege and prestige attached to the task of designing for Queen Bey, Rayan said, “I’m very proud of this huge achievement. I hope, I made my family and my country proud, as mine is the first Omani brand to dress Queen Bey.”

Disclosing the client brief, Rayan said, “We were selected to sketch and send a few sketches for a suitable outfit for the performance. Fortunately, one of the sketches was approved. We started working on the piece since November and submitted it just a few hours before the performance, with fittings going on for almost a week before delivery.”

About the guidelines provided for the design, Rayan said, “We were sent a few pictures to use as a reference for what Beyonce had in mind. So, we created a look that suited her request.”

Atelier Zuhra has, indeed, a prestigious track record, having designed in the past for a string of international celebrities, including a few from Hollywood and Bollywood.

“We do have a lot of western clients and we work with everyone around the world. Some of these include Hollywood celebrities like Paris Hilton, Nicky Minaj, Naomi Campbell, Alicia Keys, to mention a few,” said Rayan, adding that the outfit created for Beyonce was much loved and appreciated for its design as well as for the fact that it was pulled within a short time.

“I have been in this business since 2015 and was involved both, in design and management, of the business,” said Rayan who was handed over the prestigious atelier (named after her grandmother) by her mother, a talented designer and businesswoman, who had recognised Rayan's design skills early in life and chose to appoint her as its CEO.

Asked about her most favourite designs created till date, Rayan said, “It's difficult to choose a favourite design as every piece is unique in its own way.” About global fashion distinctions, she added, “I believe, there isn’t any difference between fashion in the East and the West. We can witness a lot of Arab names dressing big celebrities for the red carpet, concerts, film festivals, Oscar’s, and many more.”

As for her next prestigious order, Rayan preferred to be tight-lipped. “We do have a lot of big orders coming up - I can’t reveal anything about that - but the best is yet to come,” she assured.