A Rolex Submariner for S$6 a day? The sharing economy hits the watch market
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CNA Lifestyle
A Rolex Submariner for South$vi a mean solar day? The sharing economy hits the watch market
Try earlier y'all buy seems to be the buzzword these days – even when it comes to watches. CNA Lifestyle susses out the subscription watch club tendency.
The Rolex Submariner 'Hulk', so named because of its green bezel and greenish punch. (Photo: Acquired Time)
10 Oct 2022 06:26AM (Updated: 10 Jul 2022 07:03PM)
Nosotros reckon that you're already an agile participant in the sharing economy: You have a GrabShare to work, ride an ofo bike on the weekends and hire an Airbnb when you go on holiday.
It seems similar you can lease or share practically annihilation these days – fifty-fifty a Rolex spotter.
That's right. Over the past xviii months, two subscription watch clubs – Acquired Time and TenTwo – have been offering watch rental services to horological enthusiasts, with a third, Specter One, set to launch this month.
For every bit fiddling as South$6 a day, yous could be sporting a Rolex Submariner on your wrist, to the envy of your coworkers and chums. At to the lowest degree for an entire calendar month, until it comes fourth dimension to swap out your Sub for a Cartier Santos.
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This week, TenTwo will also launch a special rental drove comprising four Singapore micro-brands: Arcturus, BOLDR, Reverie and Vilhelm. All are startups founded by Singaporeans who are passionate about horology, and are known as micro-brands considering they typically produce less than 500 timepieces per year.
The concept of subscription watch clubs first took off in the US in 2022 with the at present-defunct website Eleven James. But for the founders of Acquired Time and TenTwo, the idea was sparked off by an initial fearfulness of buyer's remorse, and the consequent realisation that there was a gap in the market that could be filled.
"My co-founder and I met… in 2022 and we got to talking about timepieces. I lamented the fact that in that location was no way I could effort on a piece before sinking a hefty amount of money into it – my fright of buyer's remorse," Caused Fourth dimension'south Roy Tong told CNA Lifestyle.
"My co-founder agreed that this was a problem faced by many people he met, and suggested that there was a void in Singapore's robust sentry market that we could fill with a simple solution – a service where people could lease timepieces and feel it on their wrist before making a purchase decision," Tong added.
A LEAP OF FAITH
Information technology was a similar scenario for Dan Kruimel, one of the three co-founders of TenTwo (the other two being Ronald Chew and Dan Mills). In Dec 2016, he wanted to purchase a Tudor Blackness Bay Blackness equally a Christmas present to himself, merely was hesitant about plonking down "that much greenbacks". It was "the other Dan" who spurred him on.
"The other Dan helped me buy the watch. For me, it was a nervous pace of spending a considerable amount of coin. Having someone guide me through the process and recommendations just made me a lot more comfortable with what I was buying," he said.
Some of them aspire to be luxury watch owners merely aren't quite willing to spend that much money. Others are set to buy, only want to endeavour out a few options to narrow down their choices
"We had the idea of starting TenTwo in May 2022 when I was looking for my next watch. Nosotros had a think, did some research, roped Ron in, created a list of watches that we thought would be good for the drove, and and so spent vi months tracking down those watches. We launched in Jan 2018," Kruimel added.
Specter One, on the other hand, evolved from a joint business hackathon competition betwixt Singapore Institute of Direction's Young Entrepreneurship Network and Singapore Management University's (SMU) Real Business organisation Club, held in Jan 2017.
"The contest was chosen Real Business Weekend, where participants would come upwards with a business organisation program and idea over 52 hours, and on the final day nosotros would pitch to a panel of judges (equanimous of) successful entrepreneurs," explained Sendi Heng, founder and CEO of Specter One.
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In Dec 2017, Heng pitched the idea to SMU'due south Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE) Incubator program. The Constitute was apprehensive at first, merely he convinced them of the platform'due south merits, and they eventually agreed to back the venture. Specter One is now run by Heng and two partners, Lim Jing Yi and Lui Kinfung, the latter a former classmate. They plan to hold a digital launch campaign on social media this month.
HOW IT WORKS
All three firms operate on the basis of tiered membership subscriptions. Essentially, members pay a flat monthly fee for a stipulated period, say, six or 12 months. During that time, they can choose a watch from a variety in their chosen tier, wear it for a month, and then render it at the end of 30 days in exchange for a different timepiece.
Acquired Time has the most tiers – four, with the lowest (Nomad Tier) priced at S$125 a calendar month and the highest (Wayfarer Tier) costing Southward$375 a month, for a half-dozen-month minimum. Higher value pieces, such as Audemars Piguet'south Imperial Oak Offshores, also as pop models such as the Rolex Daytona, are grouped in the top tier.
TenTwo currently has a single tier priced at S$179 per month on a 12-month basis. This gives members admission to popular watches such equally the Rolex Submariner, Tudor Blackness Bay, Omega Speedmaster, Cartier Santos, Panerai Luminor Marina 1950 and IWC Pilot's Picket.
Only the introduction of Singapore micro-brands to the collection will necessitate a secondary tier. "I'm thinking of a 3-month Explorer package for S$149, which works out to exist about S$fifty a month," Kruimel revealed.
The details of Specter One's tiered membership are withal being finalised, only Heng told CNA Lifestyle that the firm volition offer a Reserve Membership in addition to a tier structure. "This is for those who do not want to commit to a subscription and (only want to wear the picket) for occasions or events. They will exist able to rent watches daily or weekly, depending on how long they demand it," he said.
WHO'Due south RENTING?
Heng intends to target "either Millennials who are embracing the sharing economy, or affluent working adults who are looking to explore watches".
Both Caused Fourth dimension and TenTwo declined to disembalm how many members they take.
Tong'southward members include analysts, architects, bankers and chefs, three-quarters of whom are Singaporean, and an overwhelming bulk – 85 per cent – of whom are men. "The higher income earners adopt the higher-finish watches such equally Audemars Piguet. White collar workers who earn a decent wage, simply who recollect sinking Due south$10,000 to S$xv,000 into a scout is nonetheless a big consideration, look at the Rolex sports tiers."
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TenTwo's members autumn into three distinct categories. "Some of them aspire to be luxury lookout owners just aren't quite willing to spend that much money. Others are ready to buy, only want to endeavour out a few options to narrow downward their choices. And we too have a few watch junkies who have bought and sold a few watches in their time. They realise the value of getting a new picket every calendar month rather than going through the practise of ownership and selling one," said Kruimel.
Like Acquired Fourth dimension, TenTwo clubbers are largely male, forming 90 per cent of the accomplice. Their age range is similar equally well, spanning the early 20s to the late 40s. Nevertheless, TenTwo has a slightly higher proportion of expats at around 33 per cent, compared to Acquired Fourth dimension's 25 per cent. This could exist because the two Dans are themselves expats who take a corresponding expat social network.
CHAMPIONING SINGAPORE
Despite this, Kruimel, who is Australian, is swell on demonstrating Singaporean inventiveness through the micro-brands. "TenTwo being a Singapore-based company, nosotros actually wanted to showcase that local collaboration and local entrepreneurs working together to open up the world of horology to potential members," he said.
The thought is to expose members to these micro-brands, the being of which they might not have been aware. "There will be some people that come to the site looking for a Rolex or Panerai, and they'll run into these micro-brands which might not take been an option. Whether they decide to try out those watches on TenTwo or approach those micro-brands straight, that's already a great success."
The ultimate goal is to promote watches and meet like-minded people who are into it as well
Travis Tan, co-founder of 2-twelvemonth-old micro-brand BOLDR, believes that the exposure will be mutually beneficial. "I think it's a skillful collaboration betwixt local startups. TenTwo volition definitely assist accomplish out to more than people and proceeds exposure for our brand in the local community," he told CNA Lifestyle.
For Alexander Ian Loh, founder of 18-month-old Arcturus, it'due south exciting times. "Information technology's an heady opportunity for more people to be exposed to micro-brands and to heighten awareness nigh the different options that are available out there," he said.
WHAT'Due south Side by side?
Tong sees potential for Caused Time in the women's segment, which currently only has three models. He is also dandy on taking the business organization overseas.
"The women's line is a work in progress and nosotros are currently in the process of working on collaborations with strategic partners such as (clothes rental firm) StyleLease to offering our women's line to their clients as an upsize," he said.
The firm is besides putting together a programme that will work somewhat similar an Amazon Prime or Privileged Membership scheme, where members who accept been with the gild for at least a twelvemonth volition have their existing memberships upgraded. They volition likewise be offered certain perks not available to new clients. This is due to be piloted at the start of 2019.
Equally for overseas expansion, tiptop of Tong's list is Hong Kong, which is similar to Singapore in terms of having a sizeable white collar population within a modest geographical footprint; a large number of expats; and a target audience that is accepting of the sharing economy.
Over at TenTwo, the plan is to create a community of sentry lovers and enthusiasts, through regular, breezy get-togethers equally well equally planned events. "Earlier this year we did a scout-and-whisky tasting event, and in between talking about the whiskies, we started talking almost the watches. We've also done a pop-upward at a tailor's, where we talked near pairing different watches with dissimilar outfits, such as a embankment wedding, or a conventional black-tie wedding.
"The ultimate goal is to promote watches and run across like-minded people who are into it equally well," said Kruimel.
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