The Truth Behind Certified Pre-Owned (CPO)

Many watches are extremely difficult to buy new at retail, particularly stainless steel models like the Submariner, GMT-Master II, and Daytona. 's retail environment has been this way for years, really taking shape in 2019. A few years later in 2022, values of these models skyrocketed, fanning the flames of demand underneath a slow trickle of supply.

You hear the frustration in comments sections, forum posts, and even at watch meetups like RedBar. Many models sell above their official list price on the secondary market — sometimes well above it. And when launched its Certified Pre-Owned program in early 2023, months after astronomical market highs, a lot of people drew the conclusion that was cashing in. That conclusion is understandable. But the evidence points to a different reality.

The Market That CPO Was Born Into

GMT-Master II 126710BLRO 'Pepsi'

To understand the perception, you need a little context. In 2021 and into 2022, the market for pre-owned watches went through a historic run-up. Watches that retailed for $10,000 were trading on the secondary market for two or three times that. First-time buyers were being priced out of models they'd been saving for. The grey market — dealers who buy and resell watches outside the official retail network — was thriving.

Then, in December 2022,  announced its Certified Pre-Owned program, with an official launch following in March 2023. So, here was , months after a historic peak in secondary market prices, launching a program to sell used watches — at market price, plus a premium for the added service and warranty. To a lot of buyers who had just been priced out of new models, this looked like monetizing the very supply-and-demand imbalance that A.) had made ownership so difficult in the first place, and B.) itself has some level of control over.

Eight months later, in August 2023, acquired Bucherer — one of the largest watch retailers in the world. To many observers, this looked like the beginning of something larger: moving to vertically integrate its retail network, buying out the big players, and eventually squeezing out the independent jewelers and family-owned authorized dealers that had been selling for decades. Threads appeared on Reddit tracking which independent ADs had closed.

The picture being assembled, piece by piece, was of consolidating control — over retail, over the secondary market, over the whole ecosystem.

What Actually Earns From CPO

CPO Display at Bucherer in Zurich, Switzerland  

Here's where a recent report from Coronet Magazine changes the framing. According to Coronet, leaves 100% of Certified Pre-Owned profit to its retailers. That figure — zero — was confirmed by Rémi Corpataux, managing director of Germany. Retailers keep 100% of the margin on every CPO sale, and says that arrangement isn't changing. If the program were a true "cash grab" as many have painted it, this is not how you would structure it.

The reasoning behind CPO, as CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour explained at a Dubai Watch Week panel late in 2025, was more practical than opportunistic. At many partner retailers, pre-owned had quietly become the second-best-selling "brand" in the store — sitting right next to new models, with no quality control, no warranty, and no real connection to the brand whose name was on the dial. had no visibility into how those watches were being sourced, serviced, or presented. CPO was designed to bring that category in line with what customers already expected when they saw a crown on the dial.

The Bucherer Acquisition and the Greater Retail Question

Bucherer Authorized Dealer. Image Source: Rapaport

As previously mentioned, acquired Bucherer in 2023 — the largest watch retailer in Switzerland and one of the largest in the world. The brands have a century-old relationship, and Bucherer was already one of 's most significant retail partners before the deal. In 2023, 87-year-old Chairman Jörg G. Bucherer decided it was time to sell — he had no direct descendant to become the fourth-generation head of Bucherer. In an effort to "keep it in the family," voted to acquire Bucherer, announcing the acquisition in August of 2023. Jörg G. Bucherer passed away three months later.

CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour described the acquisition as a move to keep an important relationship intact rather than a strategic pivot toward vertical integration. He has been explicit on the point that does not plan to acquire additional retailers, and that the independent authorized dealer model remains central to how distributes its watches.

'Coke' GMT-Master II with CPO tag. Image Source:

That said, through Bucherer and its Tourneau stores, now controls roughly a fifth of global CPO inventory, according to Coronet. That ownership benefits structurally even if the brand isn't taking a direct cut of CPO sales — ostensibly, that profit goes back into Bucherer and Tourneau.

A Different Way to Read the Tea Leaves

Curved-End Rubber Straps For

The consumer frustration that shaped how CPO was received was real and valid. Prices were painful (and still are). The timing made for poor optics. And , characteristically, didn't explain itself in real time — which left plenty of room for interpretation.

But the available evidence points somewhere different than the narrative that took hold. CPO was built to give retailers a tool for driving -related revenue even when new inventory was tight, while pulling the uncontrolled pre-owned market closer to the brand's standards. The Bucherer acquisition protected a key retail relationship rather than signaling a move away from independent dealers. And Dufour's public comments since have consistently pointed toward reinforcing the independent AD network, not dismantling it. That may not make pre-owned prices any easier to stomach, but hopefully it provides some clarity on 's decisions regarding retail and CPO.