LVMH-Backed Luxury Watch Site Hodinkee Cuts a Fifth of Jobs

Hodinkee, a web based watch retailer and information website backed by Bernard Arnault’s LVMH Luxurious Ventures, is slicing nearly 20 p.c of its workers as costs for pre-owned timepieces stoop.

The corporate has eradicated about two dozen positions, in accordance with individuals accustomed to the matter.

Hodinkee, which additionally counts musician John Mayer and Superbowl profitable quarterback Tom Brady as buyers, acquired watch supplier Crown & Caliber in 2021 throughout a frenzied surge in costs for used luxurious timepieces. The loss-making enterprise has weighed on Hodinkee, which was worthwhile earlier than the deal, stated the individuals, who spoke on the situation of anonymity.

Hodinkee confirmed it’s lowering workers in operations, know-how and pictures as a part of the combination of Crown & Caliber, with out confirming numbers.

“We’ve restructured areas of the enterprise that had been both duplicative, redundant or inefficient,” chief government officer Jeffery Fowler stated by electronic mail. Hodinkee will proceed investing in its enterprise for development, he added.

The acquisition of Crown & Caliber, which sells used Rolex and different prime manufacturers, boosted Hodinkee’s annual income above $100 million.

Based in 2008 by former UBS analyst Benjamin Clymer, Hodinkee is among the many most essential on-line sources for watch info and content material, notably for the US market. The nation is now the highest vacation spot for Swiss watch exports after overtaking China in 2021.

On-line luxurious watch buying and selling website Chrono24 GmbH lower about 13 p.c of its workforce in January.

Along with promoting new and used watches and producing restricted version collaborations with prime manufacturers, Hodinkee additionally sells watch insurance coverage merchandise and supplies bespoke companies for high-net-worth collectors.

Different Hodinkee buyers embrace The Chernin Group LLC and True Enterprise Administration LLC.

Costs for a lot of high-end watches on the secondary market — together with Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet fashions — have been falling for greater than a yr after surging throughout the pandemic.

The Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, which tracks costs for the 50 most-traded watches by worth, has dropped 12 p.c prior to now yr.

“Whereas the pre-owned market has been in transition since April of 2022, we’ve seen pre-owned watch costs stay steady for a number of quarters now, with the preferred references nonetheless commanding a premium above pre-Covid costs,”Fowler stated.

By Andy Hoffman

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