Richard Mille launches preowned retail partnerships to help people buy with greater confidence

Zach Blass

For brands like Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Rolex and Richard Mille it is crucial to understand the best means of acquiring these pieces preowned. Unless you’re a VIP customer, these highly sought-after brands don’t tend to be readily available to buy right away (if ever). Despite this, grey market dealers seem to have cases full of Hulk Submariners or various Richard Mille watches for those willing to cough up the eye-watering premiums for their instant purchase. But the journey from the manufacture to grey dealer can often be quite cloudy, and there is not always a clear sense of how the watch was attained or what condition it’s in. That’s why Richard Mille has now launched specific preowned retail partnerships to ensure there are now safe places to buy preowned Richard Mille across four countries. Not only that, but these pieces will have been fully checked and serviced by qualified Richard Mille technicians and sold with an official 24 month warranty.

I appreciate the move Richard Mille is making here. Brands such as Rolex do not really pay any mind (publicly) to the preowned market, even though it is such a crucial avenue for buyers worldwide to actually source their timepieces. Fully aware of their brand status and the demand for their watches, as well as the importance of the preowned marketplace, it is nice to see Richard Mille work to create points of sale in major markets where buyers can have full confidence in their purchase of a preowned Richard Mille.

Richard Mille explains: “The secondary market caters not only for those interested in obtaining a discontinued line. Right from the outset in 2001 Richard Mille foresaw today’s booming market in pre-owned timepieces. The brand has always supported pre-owned watches through its specific service centres. This approach is key to establishing the most important element in any relationship between a luxury brand and its client – trust. Peace of mind is paramount for all customers at the point of purchase.”

It is unclear as to what pricing for these officially certified pre-owned Richard Mille watches will be, but I think its safe to assume the four partner vendors will be asking for their second-hand worth rather than resale at the recommended retail price. The value-add here is knowing that, if you have to cough up a premium, then what you’re getting will be in the best condition possible and backed by an official certification and warranty.

So where can these officially certified preowned Richard Mille be bought? According to Richard Mille: “Richard Mille is happy to announce that its pre-owned watch distribution network now covers all major markets across four continents (sic). Anyone eager to purchase a pre-owned Richard Mille can do so with absolute peace of mind via any of our certified partners – ‘NX One’ in Japan, ‘The Value of Time’ in Singapore, ‘Westime’ in the US or ‘Ninety’ in London, UK.”

At these four points of sale buyers are issued a 24-month international warranty, a certificate of authenticity, a service booklet and of course, a brand-new strap and presentation box. With all the shenanigans currently happening in the preowned marketplace (i.e the alleged disappearance of Timepiece Gentlemen), it is nice to know there are safe avenues to buy these coveted and expensive timepieces.