ChronoPulse: The Watch Market index by Chrono24

Intro

Chrono24 is the world's leading online marketplace for luxury watches that has been operative since 2003. The Chrono24 platform has really become the mainstream online place for luxury watch enthusiasts. Over the past 20 years, Chrono24 has built an enviable reputation as the go-to platform for watch enthusiasts and dealers to securely buy and sell new, pre-owned, and vintage timepieces, boasting the largest global offering. For newcomers, Chrono24 GmbH is a fast-growing company. In July 2023 Cristiano Ronaldo bought a stake in this online watch trading platform and joined other shareholders, including private equity firms and the family investment vehicle of LMVH chairman Bernard Arnault. Chrono24 has unveiled its newest creation: ChronoPulse, the first luxury watch market index founded on real transaction data (and they do own quite a bit of transactional data!).

Market Index: Basics

Before we delve deeper, what is a market index? In traditional financial terms, it can be described as a portfolio of investment holdings that represents a specific market. The calculation of the index value at any given time comes from the prices of the underlying holdings. Some indexes have values based on market-cap weighting, revenue weighting and in this case it relates to the watch values during transactions that occur in the Chrono24 platform.
Some renowned examples of financial market indexes are the S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq, and the Spanish Ibex35.

ChronoPulse is a revolutionary watch price index that offers an unprecedented look into the luxury watch market and its performance. With 20 years of rich history and a vast reservoir of real transaction data, Chrono24 has launched this tool to provide keen insights into watch market trends, making it an essential resource for watch enthusiasts, dealers, and collectors alike.

ChronoPulse data sets

Their vast experience is complemented by the invaluable data they've amassed. Now, tapping into this data, Chrono24 has harnessed its anonymous first-party sales data to fuel ChronoPulse, creating an index that truly captures the pulse of the luxury watch market. ChronoPulse's comprehensive scope is unparalleled. It includes data from 140 watches sourced from the top 14 brands, based on their Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) contributions. Brands such as Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and many more are featured. The aim was to encapsulate over 80% of the luxury watch market, considering 10 high-selling models from each of these manufacturers. Furthermore, ChronoPulse integrates a blend of new and used watches, along with various variants of each reference. This ensures that the index provides the most accurate and representative dataset, which, notably, is based on final selling prices rather than often misleading list prices.

How to use it

The ChronoPulse index can be accessed for free on the Chrono24 website. Its interface is intuitive, allowing any type of user to quickly gauge the price and performance of specific models. To do this, references must be added to the Watch Collection tool, a feature already used by over 1.3 million active users who track the value trajectories of their collective 3.7 million+ timepieces, regardless of their purchase origin (bought through the platform or elsewhere).

Impressively, the total value of all Watch Collections being tracked within Chrono24 currently amounts to a staggering €44.73 billion. This figure highlights the immense scale and reach of Chrono24's platform, reflecting its significance in the global watch market.

The watch world is dynamic as any other market, and to ensure relevance, ChronoPulse will offer daily updates and new platform features. Additionally, every six months we will see adjustments in the selection and weighting of the individual manufacturers and models. Brand-specific indices are also on the horizon, with giants like Rolex and Audemars Piguet slated to have their own Indexes in the coming months.

Chrono24 CEO, Tim Stracke, remarked on the significance of this launch, saying, "In our 20-year history, we’ve amassed a treasure trove of trusted, real data that offers an unbeatable representation of the pre-owned watch market. It’s an honor to be able to share it as a service to the entire watch industry.” We believe ChronoPulse stands as a testament to Chrono24's commitment to enhancing the watch-buying experience. It offers insights, tools, and information that were previously unavailable, solidifying Chrono24's position as not just a sales platform but a holistic hub for luxury watch enthusiasts.