Timepiece auctions online: Chrono24 and Auctionata form alliance
– Online live auctioneer joins forces with the world’s leading marketplace for luxury watches and collectible timepieces
– 52 “Chrono24 Auctions”, each featuring up to 100 rare luxury chronometers
Karlsruhe/Berlin, May 22, 2013 – The auction market for luxury timepieces is headed for an exciting fall season: The Chrono24 online marketplace (www.chrono24.com) teams up with the Berlin-based online auction house Auctionata (www.auctionata.com) to offer rare collectibles from some of Switzerland’s and Germany’s most famous watchmakers. The first of the new “Chrono24 Auctions”, to be held in autumn 2013, will showcase rare watches with tourbillon movement. This will be followed by a further 50 themed auctions – once a month at first, and eventually weekly. Each auction will have its own theme, such as chronographs, minute repeaters or military watches. The two cooperation partners break open the luxury end of the market claimed by the big auction houses by transferring the auction room onto the internet via web-streaming. Watch collectors are sure to be impressed by the huge supply of rare pieces on offer, as well as by the worldwide accessibility of the auctions. The series of sequentially numbered specialty auctions by Chrono24 will constitute a separate category within Auctionata’s palette of auctions.
These groundbreaking live auctions are to be broadcasted from Auctionata’s own TV studio in Berlin. Seasoned auctioneer Fabian Markus will oversee the online bidding. Lending support and expertise will be the head of Auctionata’s watch department, Dr. Oliver Hoffmann, who also serves as Chairman of the Wristwatch Section at the German Society for Chronometry (DGC). Before being offered for sale, all timepieces will undergo a thorough inspection. Alexander Zacke, Auctionata’s CEO: “We don’t need pretentious showrooms, thick catalogs or extravagant events to do what we do: offer collectors worldwide the chance to acquire exclusive watches backed by a guarantee of authenticity. Locating and acquiring rare watches will now be easier than ever, without having to sacrifice safety.” During the auction, experts will be on hand to answer bidders’ questions in real time. Tim Stracke, co-CEO of Chrono24, agrees: “This cooperation will allow us to shake up the old model of the luxury auction market; we can now offer bidders anywhere in the world quick, easy and secure access to some of the finest and rarest timepieces available anywhere.”
Timepieces have become significantly more popular as investments in recent years – a trend confirmed by Dr. Oliver Hoffmann, Director of the Watch Department at Auctionata: “The cooperation between Chrono24 and Auctionata combines the best of both worlds. With Chrono24’s support, I look forward to holding timepiece auctions with completely novel themes, ones that will make investing in watches in all price categories easy and reliable.” The leading auction houses generate some 300 million EUR in annual turnover, according to an estimate by Chrono24’s CEO Tim Stracke. This is about the same volume currently transacted by Chrono24. Based on an in-house survey, the users of Chrono24’s specialized platform spend over 10 billion EUR annually for luxury watches, thus accounting for a third of the global market volume for new and used luxury timepieces. The watches listed on Chrono24 already represent a total value of over one billion USD. But also for those watches yet to find their way onto the market – e.g. premium-brand watches stashed away in personal safes – the cooperation between Auctionata and Chrono24 is sure to provide an ideal global auction room.
About Chrono24
Chrono24 (www.chrono24.com) is the world’s most popular market platform for high-end luxury timepieces, featuring more than 150,000 offered items from 70 countries. More than 1,000 commercial dealers, plus several thousand private sellers, offer luxury timepieces of all famous brands as well as rare objects from all historical epochs. Together with the Auctionata auction portal, Chrono24 will be launching the “Chrono24 Auctions,” which will offer some of the most exquisite creations of master watchmakers for online bidding. Already, the Chrono24 website boasts more than four million website visits per month. The palette on offer ranges from used vintage watches and NOS models (New Old Stock) to new watches and never-worn investment watches. A premium is placed on safety, in that dealers are carefully vetted before being allowed to trade on the platform. Watch buyers can also draw on a number of support services (e.g. a personal buying agent) throughout all phases of the acquisition process.
About Auctionata
As the world’s online auctions pioneer, Auctionata offers the gamut of services of a fine arts dealer and auction house. Working 100% online, the company offers evaluation, appraisal, authentication and marketing of precious objects, along with all associated logistics. The innovative vision of the Berlin-based start-up is to open up the international art market to the general public via the direct access made possible by the internet. Besides selling through its online shop, Auctionata also broadcasts live auctions from its own studio: On 6:00 pm each Friday, fine art, antiques, collectibles and luxury vintage articles from Auctionata’s themed online auctions are offered for sale in real time. Thus, bidders are given the unprecedented opportunity to participate live und direct from their own computer, tablet, or mobile device, no matter where they may be in the world. Thanks to this concept, which is based on its own patented real-time technology, Auctionata is the first company to offer an authentic traditional auction experience on the internet – live and in HD.
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