This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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On this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast, we talk with Quaid Walker, the co-founder and CEO of the online watch marketplace Bezel.
Bezel, like the watch market in general, has seen significant growth over the last three years. It now boasts over $500 million worth of watches coming through its marketplace annually. Millions of new watch enthusiasts are getting into the market for the first time, and secondhand marketplaces like Bezel are among the best entry points for those new customers.
Walker described the early pandemic years as “a massive bull run for all collectibles.” During that period, a ceramic Rolex Daytona in the “panda” colorway, which retailed for around $13,500, was selling on the secondhand market for over $55,000. It’s since evened out somewhat to around $32,000, reflecting the broader market which has also slowed from the mania of the early 2020s.
“What happened was you got a lot of new buyers entering the market who got really interested in watches,” Walker said. “And now that we have a correction in the market, you have the buyers who got into it because they love watches excited because prices are coming down and they can finally buy some of the watches they’ve lusted after. But then the buyers who were in it for the investment side are leaving the market.”
The way Walker sees it, people come to Bezel — and similar pre-owned marketplaces for luxury goods — for two reasons. Either they want a luxury product that they can’t afford new, in which case they buy something for below retail price, or they are looking for something that can’t be found new because it’s vintage or limited edition, in which case they buy something over retail price.
“Our job is to cater the experience for both of those customers,” Walker said. “Our promise to buyers is that we authenticate everything, we make sure everything is working the way it should, and we take a customer experience that was otherwise frustrating and make it feel accessible, quick, thoughtful and attentive.”
On the new watch buyer
“Seventy percent of our our sales are millennial and Gen Z customers, and Gen Z accounts for our highest average order value group. The dynamics are changing. The way that people buy is changing. It’s now oriented toward: I buy a watch, and I trade in and out of those watches, and I treat them like liquid assets. In a pre-Bezel world, if I wanted to sell the watch that I bought on my wrist, I would have to go to some dealer, and they would buy it from me, and they would take a 30-40% margin to make sure that they made money on the next transaction, and it was really hard for me to get liquidity out of my pieces. And so our goal is to not just be the best place for you to buy a lot, from a trust perspective, but also to allow you to get liquidity out of it, if you want it, by connecting you with another retail buyer.”
On women in watches
“[Women are] a huge focus point for the watch market right now, and a huge focus point for us. A lot of the early collecting and merchandising process for us was to not gender the watches at all. Generally speaking, the watch market has been so male-dominant, from both a marketing and a consumption perspective, and a lot of these brands are starting to realize that’s not right. And it’s also a huge growth opportunity for them to open up the doors and make it more accessible to everyone and more optimized for everyone. You’re seeing the Cartier Crash being the most desirable watch you could think of right now. And it’s traditionally a more feminine piece, or, if not, a unisex piece. We’re seeing [the trend for men] come back to smaller pieces. On the flip side, you’re seeing women wear Subs and Daytonas, and typically men’s larger watches. Everything’s kind of blurring in a really amazing way.”
