In the early months of 2022, you had as much chance of finding a good deal on desirable luxury watches like Rolex and Patek as seeing an elite university faculty member wearing a MAGA hat. 

But that has all changed in the late summer of 2022, thanks to the crypto market crash. The collapse of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is easing the supply on the second-hand market of the most desirable watches priced out of almost anyone’s budget outside Russian oligarchs and NBA players not long ago. 

Chrono 24 is an online watch trading platform based in Germany. A story in Bloomberg quotes the company as saying the crypto plunge has flooded the market, and their website has over half a million watches available for sale. 

When crypto prices soared, the second-hand watch market was red hot, with newfound luxury buyers worldwide.  They wanted the go-to brands of luxury watches; Rolex, Patek, and Audemars Piguet.  Now those same buyers are much more interested in paying their rent and making a car payment.  

The Bloomberg story has examples of how the market has tilted.  A Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 watch sells for mourned $35,000 retail. Earlier this year, that watch sold for $240,000 on the second-hand market. The price has fallen to about $190,000 now.  

Prices for second-hand luxury prices will always ride a roller coaster, but business is good for Chorine 24.  In fact, they are planning a future IPO and expect an increase in sales in the third and fourth quarters of 2022. 

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