Why Sustainability Initiatives are Strongly Woven with Pre-Owned Luxury: A Deep Dive

Luxury jewellery at the intersection of style and ethics is what the modern day consumer is looking for. Is pre-owned luxury jewellery the new sustainability buzzword, or just like a luxe jewellery’s shine, it’s here to stay?

As sustainability takes centre stage in jewellery and fashion, pre-owned hard luxury items like watches and jewellery have become the talk of the town. Putting luxury and jewellery in the same sentence means a big money market. The €38 billion evaluation of the hard luxury resale market according to Vogue Business bears testimony to that. After all, who wouldn’t want the Cartier, Bulgari, or Harry Winston sparkle in their jewellery box without waiting a lifetime to have access to it? True luxury never goes out of style, pre-loved luxury is just a more sustainable version of it; on the surface. The real world of pre-owned luxury is much more nuanced and driven by a host of different factors.

Luxury As Art

Luxury bears a similarity to art in a lot of aspects. For instance, both pure art and luxury have slow and refined craftsmanship at the core. Both luxury and art give weightage to timelessness. Both have a story woven into each phase of creation and have a meaning beyond the lines and contours. Today’s consumer seeks a deeper meaning and jewellery that connects to them more than ever before, hence luxury jewellery’s focus is rapidly shifting from trends to finding individual meaning. A component that can be found in both a new purchase or a pre-owned one. In fact, pre-owned luxury comes with a story that a new buyer might relate to, making it an even more special artistic and classic purchase.

The Investment Quotient: Yesterday’s Fashion Statement, Today’s Collectible

Just like art, a hard luxury like a watch or jewellery doesn’t lose its value over time, if anything it becomes more valuable as it steers towards becoming antique and one of its kind as a brand stops making a certain design or piece. The difference is, an antique piece of luxe jewellery no longer stays just in the wardrobe. Luxury jewellery’s dual nature as a collectable and timeless adornment has given it space among auction spaces like eBay or Sotheby’s and pre-owned luxury jewellery platforms like Vestiaire Collection and The Real Real. Closer home ReTag for men’s second-hand luxury jewellery and Luxepolis for second-hand luxury watches and jewellery. The thing is, either as a style statement or as a collectable jewellery never loses its value, making pre-owned luxury a preferred choice for sustainability enthusiasts with value-driven pursuits.

The Element Of Rarity

Now once a luxury adornment goes out of production and becomes antique, it not only gains a sentimental value but also the value for being rare. This takes the value of the jewel a notch higher. It could be anything from Oppenheimer Blue, a rare blue diamond ring named after the De Beers owner Philip Oppenheimer or Queen Marie Antoinette’s Pearl, the value of rare bijoux is high, especially if it was owned by a historically significant person or a legendary celebrity. Like fine wine, dated jewellery that stands the test of time is often valued at millions of dollars.

Luxury Is Meant To Last Forever

It isn’t just a diamond that is supposed to last forever. A piece of luxe jewellery that promises fine intricate details and a flawless finish, with aspirational artistry and materials of the highest quality is meant to last forever. It’s supposed to give value for generations to come. In such a case, buying pre-loved items is a desirable choice for a consumer in any strata, and if you get a bargain, consider yourself a lucky one, because hard luxury has incremental value and on top of that the pre-owned market promises sustainability and a push towards an alternative that reduces the pressure on the supply chain.

Meeting At The Intersection Of Aspirations And Ethical Values

At the intersection of the desire to own and the need to stay true to minimalism lies pre-owned hard luxury. It checks all the boxes when it comes to owning aspirational high-end jewellery- carefully crafted and with not one but two meaningful stories. One of inception to the finished product, other of the first owner and their time with it, closing the deal on a high note with a great return of investment potential as well, and it is sustainable for obvious reasons.

Creating Trusted Spaces For Pre-Owned Luxury

Now, with pre-owned luxury it might seem that one can have it all. But there is a gaping loophole that requires both the seller’s and the buyer’s attention– authenticity. Among thousands of websites and offline marketplaces, how can one be absolutely sure that what they are buying is true luxury, as counterfeit products are quite widespread in the industry. This makes it essential for brands to take steps to gain consumer trust, such as ensuring that every luxury item they acquire is a hundred percent legitimate. Vestiare’s brand approved initiative is a good example, where the platform gets each purchase confirmed for its authenticity from the brand. Van Cleef Arpels also released a video showcasing attributes of its Alhambra collection that customers can keep in mind to check the authenticity for themselves.

Working Out A Viable Business Model

Although authenticity is foundational, working a viable and profitable business model around it is another challenge. As big brands are mostly reluctant to start pre-owned luxury lines in fear of creating competition for their first purchase products, certain platforms have to create a separate brand identity to sell luxury. There are brands like ReTag which are established solely to work with second hand luxury, on the other hand brands like Van Cleef Arpels, Cartier, and Bullecati are taking steps towards establishing a space for buying back and resale. The luxury watch brand Zenith’s icon range including its best pieces is a classic example.

The antidote to the effects of the mass market is here in the form of pre-owned luxury. All the consumer and seller need to do is take that well-authenticated and confident step towards giving pre-owned hard luxury the space it deserves.