As demand for high-priced products declines, platforms for pre-owned luxury watches are drawing attention in the market. Consumers feeling burdened by new product prices are turning to used watches, and analysts say trust in transactions is strengthening around platforms that provide authentic appraisal and warranties. Further advancing the appraisal and warranty system that can fundamentally block the distribution of counterfeits is cited as a task that will determine future growth.
According to the startup industry on the 18th, platforms for pre-owned luxury watches are being mentioned as investment targets, mainly by venture capital firms. Taming Lab, operator of the pre-owned luxury watch commerce service WhatTime, raised a seed round in Feb. last year from Kakao Ventures and Mashup Ventures. The amount was not disclosed. Viber, a subsidiary of Dunamu that operates a pre-owned luxury watch transaction platform, pulled in 4 billion won from Musinsa in Dec. last year. Musinsa took part in Viber's paid-in capital increase through Musinsa Partnership Fund No. 1, in which it holds 100% equity.
Founded in 2022, Taming Lab operates WhatTime, a platform that helps with every step of the transaction for pre-owned luxury watches, from purchase to appraisal and repair. It sells pre-owned luxury watches it acquires directly. With a real-time appraisal and pricing system, it secures watches from consumers and connects them to more than 20 specialist resellers across at least four countries, including Japan, Hong Kong, the United States, and China.
Viber is an operating company for a pre-owned luxury watch transaction platform that Dunamu established in June 2021. The prevailing view is that it was set up to invest in the physical asset transaction market beyond virtual assets. Viber, based on consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions, also opened stores in Apgujeong and Jamsil in Seoul. The Apgujeong location focuses on experiences and consultations, while the Jamsil location is operated to sell actual watches. Consumers can try on watches and purchase them on site.
However, neither Taming Lab nor Viber has yet achieved meaningful revenue. Taming Lab posted sales of 80 million won in 2023 and about 94 million won in 2024, but recorded an operating loss of more than 10 million won.
Viber also recorded about 20.4 billion won in cumulative comprehensive losses from 2022 to 2024. Comprehensive loss is the total amount of losses a company actually incurred during a year. In Dec. last year, Dunamu invested 16 billion won in Viber as operating funds and acquired 4.5 million common shares.
Despite repeated losses, the industry analyzes that pre-owned luxury watches have both real demand and asset characteristics, which is translating into investment interest in platforms. While preference for luxury goods is declining due to price hikes by luxury brands and weaker consumer sentiment, watches show relatively low price volatility in the global market, and some models hold their value well even in the secondary market.
Platforms for pre-owned luxury watches also have the potential to expand into finance based on physical assets. Once an appraisal and warranty system is in place, it is easier to expand into areas such as real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Short-term profitability is limited, but in the mid to long term, the possibility of growing into infrastructure that links physical asset transactions and finance is cited as the investment rationale.
The task ahead is to advance the appraisal and warranty regime to block the distribution of counterfeits. As the online luxury platform BALAAN, which is undergoing corporate rehabilitation, and limited-edition transaction platforms such as KREAM become embroiled in counterfeit controversies, the importance of securing trust across the pre-owned luxury transaction market is growing even more.
An industry official said, "Who bears the warranty responsibility and to what extent, along with standardizing appraisal criteria, will determine long-term survival." The official added, "Only when trust infrastructure is built can the market be sustained and financial expansion such as asset tokenization be pursued," and "the success or failure of platforms depends more on the completeness of the verification system than on the scale of transactions."