by Aude
I’m not wearing any watch and that for a few reasons. First, I’m left handed and it looks to me that watches are not made for left handed people. Wearing one on my left arm, like most people do, is not convenient at all especially if I need to write something and I guess I’ve been traumatized younger when, wearing a watch on my right arm, a lady stopped me in the street and told me that I was not wearing my watch properly (true story! Seriously, what’s wrong with people …). Then, I like to see watches as pieces of jewellery. Each and every jewel that I own and wear has a special meaning/story, I don’t have much but not that keen on wearing costume jewellery. Well, I’m the same with watches. I’d like to have a few beautiful pieces. Would you consider buying a pre-owned luxury watch? I would definitely! But only if I can have guarantee that I am not buying a copy.
I’m not wearing any watch and that for a few reasons. First, I’m left handed and it looks to me that watches are not made for left handed people. Wearing one on my left arm, like most people do, is not convenient at all especially if I need to write something and I guess I’ve been traumatized younger when, wearing a watch on my right arm, a lady stopped me in the street and told me that I was not wearing my watch properly (true story! Seriously, what’s wrong with people …). Then, I like to see watches as pieces of jewellery. Each and every jewel that I own and wear has a special meaning/story, I don’t have much but not that keen on wearing costume jewellery. Well, I’m the same with watches. I’d like to have a few beautiful pieces. Would you consider buying a pre-owned luxury watch? I would definitely! But only if I can have guarantee that I am not buying a copy.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to discover WatchBox in their super arty and beautiful showroom on Duddell Street. WatchBox ? A US originated company and the world’s leading ecommerce platform for buying, selling and trading pre-owned luxury timepieces. Knowing that Hong Kong is the world’s largest market for Swiss watch import, it definitely made sense for them to set foot there. But how do you become the world’s leading ecommerce platform for pre-owned luxury watches?
Trust: all pieces from their inventory are inspected, authenticated and come with a warranty
Expertise: the platform was co-founded by watch industry stars Danny Govberg - from Govberg Jewelers - and Tay Liam Wee – former owner of Sincere Watch – together with investor and entrepreneur Justin Reis. The perfect combination of industry expertise and entrepreneurial and managerial experience.
Technology: more than just an e-commerce platform, WatchBox is a network of watch enthusiasts and to satisfy them they have developed data driven tools such as a tailored news feed for users to learn more about the watch industry or market pricing tools for collectors to assess the market value of their watches.
So back to the newly opened Collector’s Lounge showroom, where you can meet with their expert associates for specific request or just for a simple chat while browsing their curated selection of pieces on display, I sat down a few minutes for a little chat with Justin Reis for a little “behind the scenes” at Watchbox’s entrepreneurial journey and launch in Hong Kong.
Hi Justin
Nice to have you here in Hong Kong for a few days. Can you tell me a little more about the beginnings of WatchBox, how did the idea of launching an e-commerce platform for pre-owned luxury watches arise?
Danny and Tay Liam, my two fellow partners, first met 25 years ago and reconnected a few years ago. As a CEO of Govberg Watches, Danny has always been interested in the pre-own sector, having seen his customers looking to sell or trade some of their pieces but without finding the right trusted partner to do so. Being a pioneering force, Danny has successfully managed to transform Govberg into one of theworld’s premier authorised dealers of both new and pre-owned timepieces. Liam Wee on his side was also working in the watches industry, taking Sincere Watch public in both Singapore and Hong Kong before selling it in 2012. He was then convinced that the next move for the watch industry was top open-up to pre-owned pieces and wanted to be part of this next move and hopefully lead it in Asia. This is basically how they reconnected together.
As for me, I have a private equity, finance background. Together we are a strong team of industry veterans, entrepreneurs, capital experts and tech specialist and have decided to join forces to conceptualize and launch what we envisioned as a revolution in the luxury watch market: WatchBox.
You are a US based company. Why choosing Hong Kong as your first Asian stop?
Hong Kong, the US and China are the 3 largest watch markets in the world. We wanted to gather those markets together on a trusted omni-channel platform so that we can offer enough “liquidity” to watch collectors from all around the globe.
Plus, Hong Kong is known to be one of the most sophisticated market for watch purchases (as you can easily notice from records set at auctions in Hong Kong) and we want to provide those consumers a unique service so that they can curate their collections and further grow them.
How do you cater the needs and wishes of the modern watch customers?
Today, consumers are empowered by social networks and digital devices: they dictate how and when they want to interact with your brand. We are designed to support the consumer at any time of the day and from any location.
We are technology and data driven which allows us to personalized the experience.
We also address the needs of various types of consumers:
Veteran collectors with a penchant for highly exclusive and limited models
Millennials appealed by luxury timepieces at lower price
Novice enthusiast buying his/her first luxury watch
Ok, now I know who to trust for buying a luxury watch. What’s next? A special occasion (and a little extra money) I guess …
Nice to have you here in Hong Kong for a few days. Can you tell me a little more about the beginnings of WatchBox, how did the idea of launching an e-commerce platform for pre-owned luxury watches arise?
Danny and Tay Liam, my two fellow partners, first met 25 years ago and reconnected a few years ago. As a CEO of Govberg Watches, Danny has always been interested in the pre-own sector, having seen his customers looking to sell or trade some of their pieces but without finding the right trusted partner to do so. Being a pioneering force, Danny has successfully managed to transform Govberg into one of theworld’s premier authorised dealers of both new and pre-owned timepieces. Liam Wee on his side was also working in the watches industry, taking Sincere Watch public in both Singapore and Hong Kong before selling it in 2012. He was then convinced that the next move for the watch industry was top open-up to pre-owned pieces and wanted to be part of this next move and hopefully lead it in Asia. This is basically how they reconnected together.
As for me, I have a private equity, finance background. Together we are a strong team of industry veterans, entrepreneurs, capital experts and tech specialist and have decided to join forces to conceptualize and launch what we envisioned as a revolution in the luxury watch market: WatchBox.
You are a US based company. Why choosing Hong Kong as your first Asian stop?
Hong Kong, the US and China are the 3 largest watch markets in the world. We wanted to gather those markets together on a trusted omni-channel platform so that we can offer enough “liquidity” to watch collectors from all around the globe.
Plus, Hong Kong is known to be one of the most sophisticated market for watch purchases (as you can easily notice from records set at auctions in Hong Kong) and we want to provide those consumers a unique service so that they can curate their collections and further grow them.
How do you cater the needs and wishes of the modern watch customers?
Today, consumers are empowered by social networks and digital devices: they dictate how and when they want to interact with your brand. We are designed to support the consumer at any time of the day and from any location.
We are technology and data driven which allows us to personalized the experience.
We also address the needs of various types of consumers:
Veteran collectors with a penchant for highly exclusive and limited models
Millennials appealed by luxury timepieces at lower price
Novice enthusiast buying his/her first luxury watch
Ok, now I know who to trust for buying a luxury watch. What’s next? A special occasion (and a little extra money) I guess …