Anecdote 8
In celebration of 20 years of Linde Werdelin

Many brands offer a certified pre-owned service these days, even Rolex. But Linde Werdelin got there first….. 

It’s difficult to believe it now, but there was a time without ‘pre-owned’ watches – and it was little more than 20 years ago.

Back then they were either ‘vintage’ (if they appeared in a high-end auction catalogue) or ‘second-hand’ if they were being offered for sale anywhere else. 

On the whole, few people were interested in owning someone else’s unwanted timepiece, and buying or collecting used watches was a relatively niche occupation.

The situation suited the brands well, because it prevented new retail sales from being diluted and helped to perpetuate the belief that watches which had already  been worn by other people were a bit, er,  undesirable. 

The internet, of course, changed all that. 

Thanks to the world wide web, more and more people discovered that watches were not necessarily ‘just watches’ after all, but that some had fascinating histories and interesting back stories.

Others epitomised the era in which they were designed, while others proved to be ultra-rare or to have been connected with significant people or events.

Suddenly, values began to grow. First for pieces by ‘blue chip’ makers (Patek Philippe and Rolex)  and then for other makes (TAG Heuer, Omega and so on) and, before too long, publicity surrounding auction prices achieved by some models began to boost interest in contemporary product – thus raising the profiles of the brands that made them.  

But still the same brands remained in denial that the used market really mattered. 

Why, after all, would they want to get involved when they could keep bringing out new models and using stories of the past to sell them?

But things began to change as the first decade of the 2000s drew to a close. The financial crash of 2008 combined with over-production and falling retail sales to see the grey market flooded and new watches being offered at huge discounts.

The companies that could afford to bought back millions of dollars worth of inventory in a bid to settle the situation; companies that could not afford to suffered badly. Some even went under.

Equilibrium was eventually restored but, by then, the cat was well and truly out of the bag: watches didn’t need to be new after all – and buying them ‘pre-owned’ could often eliminate the risk of losing a significant amount of money by being a first owner.

Soon, the number of independent ‘pre-owned’ specialists began to mushroom, the majority being e-tail only businesses that, helped by a lack of overheads and efficient systems, soon started to pose a serious threat to new watch sales – so much so that, in 2018, luxury goods giant Richemont bought-out the leading UK pre-owned business Watchfinder.

But a whole two years before that Linde Werdelin had already woken up to the importance of the pre-owned market  – and the fact that if someone wanted to buy a used example of one of your watches, why on earth wouldn’t you help them?

“I think it’s accurate to say that Linde Werdelin was the very first brand to sell certified, pre-owned pieces when we started to do so back in May 2016,” says Jorn Werdelin.

“Since then, numerous others have done it – including Rolex, which announced its pre-owned service at the end of 2022. I’m not saying that’s a testament to our decision, but it must demonstrate a recognition that it is what customers have wanted for a long time.”

Jorn recalls that Linde Werdelin was in such a precarious position at the start of 2016 due to the firm’s involvement with wholesalers and the perceived need to keep growing that he contemplated closing the business down.

“But then we decided to become completely customer-centric – and one of the things that came out of that was the fact that it has always been considered perfectly normal to be able to part-exchange a pre-owned car for a new one and for the garage to sell the old one on with a certain amount of warranty. 

“Why, we thought, can’t it be the same in the watch business? We couldn’t see a reason not to do it, so we tried to figure out typical market prices for different pre-owned models.

“Once we had done that, we decided to add 10 to 20 percent to account for the fact that everyone we offered would be authenticated, checked, serviced, guaranteed, and supplied on a new strap.

“People caught on very quickly and we soon discovered that being able to buy a pre-owned Linde Werdelin gave people an entry point to the brand. They didn’t have to buy new and risk not falling in love with the watch but, equally, starting with a used Linde Werdelin could help them become a real fan of what we do.”

Jorn says the certified pre-owned service has led to the sale of around 200 watches and currently attract 25 – 50 buyers per year.

“What is really interesting is that it has made us realize how rare and coveted some of our pieces have become,” he adds.

“We made 44 examples of the Spidolite in gold with Svend Andersen, but we don’t own one ourselves and have never seen one offered on the pre-owned market…..”

Andersen Spidolite owners – take note…..