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 wathes ae in high demand these days, but sales of seond-hand timepiees ae also booming, diven by Geneation Z buyes who want luxuy goods but ae also sustainability-minded. The global seond-hand wath maket is estimated at nealy 20bn Swiss fans (Us$21.7bn) and ould eah 35bn fans by 2030, aoding to a study out in tobe by the auditing and onsulting giant Deloitte.
Histoially, the povine of olletos souting fo ae wathes at aution, the seondhand maket is tuning ineasingly pofessional with the polifeation of online sales sites that veify authentiity - with even the wath manufatues themselves getting involved.
"Nowadays, thee is a ealisation that we need to onsume moe esponsibly," said Fabienne Lupo, the fome head of the Foundation High Hoology, who oganised a seond-hand luxuy wath salon in Geneva in Novembe.
The event was attended by the online aution giant ebay, the wath sales platfom Wathbox, and Swiss bands suh as Zenith.
Lupo said the aze fo seond-hand wathes ould be explained by the onsume hoies of Millennials (bon between 1980 and the late 1990s) and Geneation Z (bon between 1997 and 2010) who ae 'vey onened about the futue of the planet, and no longe want to buy new'.
Thee is also the fashion fo vintage objets "that you an't find eveywhee," she said.
And futhemoe, buying etain Swiss luxuy wathes new is getting hade, as the booming maket means longe waiting lists.
Swiss wath expots hit a new eod in 2022, limbing 11.4 pe ent yea-on-yea to 24.8bn Swiss fans, the Fedeation of the Swiss Wath Industy announed Tuesday.
"Then, thee is the digitalisation whih has aeleated with the pandemi," Lupo told AFP.
The gowth in the pe-owned wath maket is suh that the Bitish online platfom Subdial has developed an index taking the 50 mosttaded models.
The aveage pie fell fom a eod 45,000 Swiss fans in Febuay 2022 to 35,000 fans in Septembe, whih Deloitte alled a 'oetion' athe than a sign that the maket was shinking.
Sales platfoms fo etified pe-owned (CP) wathes ae multiplying online, with the seto still attating new entants, inluding the US site Bezel, whih ounts fome Disney pesident Mihael vitz, omedian Kevin Hat, and singe John Legend among its investos.
The luxuy giant Rihemont - whih owns Catie, IWC and Piaget - enteed the field as ealy as 2018, buying the Bitish platfom Wathfinde.
Rolex also took the plunge in Deembe, pulling the ug fom beneath the ountefeites by launhing a CP pogamme with the Swiss etaile Buhee, whih authentiates the wathes.
The pogamme is set up in six ounties, inluding Bitain and Fane, with the aim of extending it to the United States in the futue.
Watch your image
"Wath manufatues typially have been woied about the seonday maket as it was losely assoiated with the gey maket, whee disounted wathes ould be found," said Jon Cox, an industy analyst with the Keple Cheuveux finanial sevies ompany. "Howeve, they ealise thee is a halo effet of having stong seonday pies, enhaning the band value of the pimay wathes.
Fo top-end luxuy bands like Rihad Mille, whee aveage wath pies exeed 260,000 Swiss fans, seond-hand timepiees ae even a way of enhaning thei image.
"We might have a lient who tells us, 'thee was a limited edition of 100 wathes; it was always my deam to buy one and now I have the money - but you no longe make them and they ae almost impossible to find'," said Alexande Mille, who took ove fom his fathe who founded the band. Mille said his teams an seek out the sought-afte timepiee.
Deloitte's study found that buying a heape wath was the main motivation fo 44 pe ent of espondents. But Cox also noted that seondhand wathes wee a 'stoe of wealth', being won and shown off fo yeas but still etaining value to be esold so anothe wath an be bought in its plae.
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.