The secondhand watch marketplace Bob’s Watches has physical outposts on both coasts of the country, but now it’s coming to a new location: the airport.
On Monday, Bob’s Watches opened a boutique in Terminal 8 of JFK International Airport in New York. It’s joining several other luxury brands, including Ferragamo, Dior and Tag Heuer, all of which have opened in a shared space.
It’s a new frontier for Bob’s Watches, which says this is the first secondhand watch boutique to open in a major international airport in the U.S. The hope, according to Bob’s Watches CEO Paul Altieri, is that customers wary of today’s skyrocketing watch prices will be attracted to the lack of sales tax and duties in a travel retail environment.
“Beyond tariffs, price increases are the main discussion in watches right now,” Altieri said. “Gold is skyrocketing. Metal is getting expensive. Prices are going up in the last few months at all the major brands, like Patek Philippe, Rolex and Omega. Somebody has to absorb that.”
To open in JFK, Bob’s Watches worked with a Swiss company called Avolta, which operates duty-free stores in airports around the world. The process of getting into the duty-free section of an airport like JFK involves submitting a competitive bid against other companies for the space. Avolta secured its eighth contract with JFK this past October.
Altieri said Bob’s Watches, which does more than $100 million in annual revenue, is stocking the boutique with just 20 watches, mostly Rolex, each of which is priced at more than $10,000. They’re modern watches, all made in the last three years, and are desirable because the waitlist for a new Rolex from an authorized dealer is long. Some Rolex Datejust models have waitlists of over five years.
“Interest in watches remains strong overall,” said Carol Altieri, Bob’s Watches COO. “We’re seeing healthy demand at every level, from longtime collectors to first-time buyers. The desire for immediate availability and transparency continues to resonate with customers and supports continued momentum in the pre-owned market.”
Duty-free retail has been growing in recent years, hitting $77 billion in global sales in 2024 and $95 billion in 2025. Rolex prices have also been going up and are expected to increase by 7% this month alone. Bob’s Watches will do minimal marketing for the new boutique, instead relying on the airport’s natural foot traffic to attract new customers.
“Millions of people fly through JFK every month,” Altieri said. “It’s a huge opportunity for us, for exposure, to get into another retail location. The majority of our business is still online, but at a time when Rolex is in short supply, this is a chance to get in front of millions of customers and offer them something they’re looking for.”
