Watch servicing is expensive, opaque, and dominated by brand-authorised centres, while the independent trade has a genuine supply problem for components. A platform there would be useful and defensible, and it’s the least obvious reading of this name. The broader market is one of the most sophisticated secondary markets anywhere. Certain references trade above retail, dealers run real market-making operations, and price discovery has spawned an industry of indices, platforms and authentication services.

Nobody has solved pricing transparency in fashion resale the way it’s been solved in watches. That data gap is the most defensible business under this name. Resale is one of the most significant structural changes in fashion retail. Secondhand platforms handle enormous volumes, luxury houses now participate rather than resist, and for younger buyers the used market is a first stop rather than a last resort. Aftermarket is a more precise and more commercial word than resale or secondhand.

Independent watchmakers struggle for components and the brands prefer it that way. Parts and servicing is the underserved corner of this market and the most defensible business under the name. The broader secondary market is among the most sophisticated anywhere. Price discovery is real, certain references trade well above retail, dealers make markets, and authentication and indexing services have grown on top. Aftermarket is the trade’s own word, carrying more precision than “used” or “pre-owned” because it implies the whole infrastructure: dealers, parts, servicing, valuation, provenance.