Rolex certified pre-owned watches cost 25% more on average than those from...

[WilsdorfNDavis]

CPO program is for 3 year or older watches so that can't happen.

[Rolex1982]

Originally Posted by rlx123

What’s going to stop the AD from putting their brand new stock in the cpo case and pass it off as pre-own so they can charge 2x retail?


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Like wilsdorf said, the “3 years old” rule.

[Pilotguy89]

Originally Posted by Pepperjack

My shop has CPO and I am one of the watchmakers responsible for those watches. When the CPO program was first brought to us, I think we all thought it was going to be us sending watches to an RSC for them to service, and then we would be allowed to sell them. That's not necessarily the case, and I wish we weren't part of it so we could instead focus on customer pieces; unfortunately, that's not my decision. I'll describe the process below for those interested, and to the extent to which I'm familiar.

Our buyer negotiates with the customer the buy-price of the piece. Sometimes it's cash, sometimes it's trade-in. It then goes to one of the watchmakers, typically me, for estimation, just like any customer piece. I have to estimate these more harshly than a customer's. Crystals and inserts need to be near perfect, dials and hands have to be perfect. Most of the time I'll just give those as options for customers, but I can't for CPO (store policy, I'm not sure if that's Rolex policy). I will also ensure that bracelets have the number of links a brand-new bracelet would. The bracelet has to be in good condition - better than I realized when we first started doing CPO. New bracelets are ordered for them often. The bracelet is also a big factor in whether or not our buyer will buy.

Once my buyer OK's the estimate, we service it in-house. The backside of the dial is photographed and uploaded to a site. We assume this is so Rolex can verify the dial is authentic. The case and bracelet are refinished, often more heavily than I would like, but Rolex wants them to "look new." There is no requirement to refinish the watch, but if it is refinished, it has to be the way that they want. The watch otherwise goes through all of the same testing procedures as any other watch would.

Once they pass all of our testing, they are then shipped to Rolex, where they stay for about 4 weeks. Rolex then does their tests and inspections. They also take photographs for us to use, write new paperwork, give it a box and tags, and then send it back. Rejection does happen, and that's typically how we learn what they want from us. When the CPO program first started, there weren't many known factors, so we had a lot of things to redo or do better on.

Thank you so much for this insight! I greatly appreciate it.
So a question I have is for the replacement parts, where are they coming from? Is Rolex still producing new 16710 Pepsi bezels and 14060 bezels and bracelets? Or is there a finite supply and eventually it will run out and we get what we get?

Thanks!


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