Rocca enters the second wrist business

Rocca also enters the second wrist business with the Rocca Certified Pre-Owned programme. A new project that will initially involve eight of the more than 40 boutiques of the watch and jewellery chain owned by the Damiani Group: Milano Duomo, Milano Galleria and the windows in Turin, Palermo, Mantua, Padua, Bari and Courmayeur. The initiative started with a dedicated section on the chain's official website. Fabrizio Giaccon, sales & marketing director of Rocca explains: "If the entire new luxury watch market in the world is worth around 50 billion euro, the second wrist market is now worth around 25 billion. A number that, according to Morgan Stanley's projections, is expected to rise to 35 billion in the next three years and to 75 billion in 2035: the same figure that new is expected to reach. Since our job is to represent luxury watch brands around the world, we couldn't stay out of this market'.

Figures that, added to those reported in the Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study 2025 presented last November, offer interesting scenarios. In fact, the report states that of the 33% of respondents who said they would like to buy a second-hand watch in 2025, 40% are millennials and 40% Gen Z and Alpha In addition, it also emerges that 31% of respondents prefer to buy such models in shops that sell both new and pre-owned (19% would choose a storefront focused only on second-hand). Another piece of data that emerges is that the purchase of second-hand watches is seen by 49% of respondents who are part of the industry itself, as the first point of contact with the brand and the world of luxury in general.

Rocca's adventure in this business began at a precise moment. "When we received confirmation that we were among the dealers in the official Rolex Certified Pre-Owned project (the brand itself certifies and checks the models sold under this programme and at the moment the certification is present in the Rocca Duomo boutique, ed.)," Giaccon points out, "we entered this market first of all to deal in Rolex watches and then to open up to other brands. The objective is to ensure a high level of service and transparent prices. We buy from the end customer and not from resellers: a world that does not belong to us'. Indeed, according to data from the Morgan Stanley study carried out in conjunction with the Watchcharts platform, Rolex CPOs continue to command a significant premium of 25.9 per cent globally over the overall second-hand Rolex market. Furthermore, in 2025, the number of retailers offering Rolex CPOs internally grew by 35 per cent, with worldwide sales valued at over $500 million, up 66.6 per cent from $300 million in 2024. These numbers are still small compared to the global Rolex sold in the second-wrist market, but the customer base that Rolex CPOs are aimed at is different from the traditional second-hand watch market. The entry into the second-wrist business will result in Rocca having "five to seven times more business in the next three years".

After the first eight boutiques, the project will soon enter other shops. "It is a process that has different timings and also depends on product availability. It will soon involve Catania, Bari, Naples, Lecce, Syracuse and Reggio Calabria'. On the possibility of opening shops exclusively dedicated to pre-owned, the manager does not give his opinion: 'As Rocca, we never rule out anything. If there should be opportunities, why not? At the moment, however, pre-owned models are part of a precise strategy that envisages the completion of our product range and services in the boutiques'.

Giaccon closes by talking about the acquisition of Baume & Mercier by the Damiani Group announced on 22 January: 'The news is very fresh. We must have time to manage the transition and integration. It will not be an easy and immediate process. For our part, we are very confident, because we feel motivated and we feel prepared to manage this project. Later Giorgio and Guido Damiani will describe the various steps in detail.