Rolex and Audemars Piguet Reign at The RealReal

The RealReal, the online marketplace for consigned luxury goods, released its resale report this week, and, as always, the results are fascinating. The report gathers data based on sales and demand from millions of shoppers.

The upshot? Consumers are veering away from fast fashion toward luxury resale for sustainability reasons. More than 80% of The RealReal’s customers cite sustainability as an important reason for shopping the site. About 32% report they’ve left fast fashion behind in favor of luxury resale.

In fashion, Gucci and Louis Vuitton remain the most in-demand brands. In fact, they lead more than 225% over number-three brand Chanel. Gucci is up 78% over last year, favored by both men and women.

“Gucci and Louis Vuitton have been at the forefront of embracing culture changes and adapting to the shifting demographic of luxury buyers,” said Rati Levesque, chief operating officer and head of merchandising for The RealReal. “We’re seeing that pay off with increasingly strong demand for both brands in luxury resale that has distanced them significantly from the other top brands.”

In resale jewelry, watches surged an astounding 132% in growth over last year, the report states. And, most of the growth occurred in watches priced $30,000 or higher. Among the top in-demand watches: Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, Cartier’s Tank Française, Rolex’s Day-Date, Cartier’s Ballon Bleu de Cartier, and Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual.

For watches priced $5,000 or higher, the growth of customers ages 18 to 34 surged 58%, and customers ages 35 to 44 spiked 145%.

Interestingly, the demand for Apple smartwatches fell to the bottom of the pack, suggesting craftsmanship is increasingly important to customers.

“Many parts of modern luxury watches are crafted from rare materials and made and assembled by hand,” said Laif Anderson, head watchmaker at The RealReal. “That’s what sets them apart from smartwatches. Savvy buyers are latching onto high-end watches as ultimate statement pieces that are also one of the smartest luxury investments.”

Top: Cartier vintage jewelry is promoted on The RealReal homepage.

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Kristin Young

JCK Magazine Contributor

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