Subdial
Data-driven platform for trading pre-owned luxury watches.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor investor investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
* | £1.5m Valuation: £20.0m | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Subdial operates a digital marketplace for buying, selling, and trading pre-owned luxury watches, aimed at providing transparency in a traditionally opaque market. Founded in London in 2018 by Ross Crane and Christy Davis, the company was born from their shared passion for watches and a desire to improve the trading experience through technology and data. Crane, the CEO, and Davis, the COO, bootstrapped the company initially to develop a proprietary data model to accurately predict watch sale prices and turnaround times.
The company serves a global community of watch enthusiasts and collectors, a demographic that is increasingly younger, digitally-savvy, and comfortable with online transactions. Subdial's business model is a hybrid, acting as both a direct market-maker (buying and holding inventory) and a marketplace that facilitates consignment sales and matchmaking services between collectors. This dual approach aims to ensure market liquidity and provide a comprehensive customer experience. Revenue is generated from the sale of its own inventory and commissions on consignment sales. A key feature is the "Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index," a tool that tracks the market value of the 50 most-traded pre-owned luxury watches, offering data-driven insights to collectors. The platform is also known for its weekly 'drops' of newly available watches, which are promoted to a large subscriber base.
Subdial has secured significant funding to fuel its growth, including a £4 million round in 2021 led by Active Partners and a subsequent £1.5 million round in late 2024 led by Stuart Hennell, the founder of rival platform Watchfinder. This investment supports enhancing the digital platform, international expansion, and the opening of a physical 'Clubhouse' in London for the watch community. The company has in-house watchmakers who perform rigorous authentication checks on all timepieces.
Keywords: pre-owned luxury watches, watch trading, secondary watch market, watch marketplace, data-driven pricing, watch collectors, horology, market index, consignment sales, timepiece authentication, Rolex, Patek Philippe, luxury resale, e-commerce, watch valuation, vintage watches, Ross Crane, Christy Davis, Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, watch investment