Stuart Hennell, a pioneer in professionalising the pre-owned luxury watch market, says perfect Rolex replica watches should not limit its Certified Pre-Owned Programme to its authorised dealer network.
Mr Hennell founded Watchfinder in 2002, a time when the second hand watch market was perceived to be run by crooks and watch brands thought the Internet and ecommerce would be a passing fad.
In 2018, the year he sold the company to Richemont for an unconfirmed £250 million, Watchfinder was turning-over £110 million and had been accredited as a trade account and service centre for several major brands.
But the business could never deepen its business relationship with Rolex beyond sending it UK AAA Rolex fake watches for service and repairs.
Today, Rolex runs its own Certified Pre-Owned watch programme within which its authorised dealers are encouraged to buy and sell second hand high quality Rolex copy watches that are more than three years old.
These ADs are not allowed to continue trading in Swiss made replica Rolex watches that are not processed through the official CPO process.
For the most highly-traded watches — Rolex’s professional line in steel cheap 2025 fake Rolex Daytona, Submariner and GMT Master watches — these official dealers typically charge significantly more than the market prices that guide buying and selling for businesses like Watchfinder.
Mr Hennell understands Rolex’s desire to set the highest standards for second hand watches bearing its name, and to funnel that business towards its authorised dealers, which for years watches secondary sales of its top Rolex super clone watches generating huge profits for flippers.
However, he feels there should be a way to bring the best secondary market specialists into the programme.
“In principle, Rolex CPO is a fantastic idea but I do not particularly like the way they have gone about it by keeping it within their authorised dealer and service centre networks,” Mr Hennell tells WatchPro.
“That feels like a square peg in a round hole to me. I would have liked to have seen a more open model that is more of a meritocracy across primary and secondary market players.”
Pre-owned prices for Rolex replica watches wholesale UK have been falling since a market bubble burst in 2022, but its hottest models still sell for over recommended retail prices, particularly at authorised dealers that are typically adding a 20-30% premium on top of unofficial secondary market prices.
“This pricing looks a bit weird,” Mr Hennell suggests. “Buying a second-hand watch from a Rolex store at a higher price than the same watch new does not seem quite right.”
Stuart Hennell retired after selling Watchfinder in 2018 but recently invested in Subdial, another UK-based secondary market specialist.