On a muggy Monday morning in Atlanta, the Crown & Caliber office is quieter than it used to be. Remember the old days? Dozens of watchmakers hunched over tiny movements, customer service lines buzzing, and a relentless flow of Rolexes, Omegas, and the occasional oddball Tudor heading in and out the door. Fast forward to mid-2025, and the mood has shifted. There are fewer hands on deck, a new owner at the helm, and a business model that’s noticeably less Silicon Valley, more classic watch shop. Still, one fact remains: Crown & Caliber is not out of business. They’ve just switched lanes, trimmed the sails, and kept moving.
Let’s pull back the curtain on what’s really going on — and what comes next for one of the internet’s biggest pre-owned watch sellers.
Recent Ownership Changes: How Crown & Caliber Got Here
First, the scoreboard. Crown & Caliber — founded as a disruptor in used luxury watches — made major headlines in 2021 when Hodinkee, the New York-based media darling of the watch world, bought them for somewhere in the $20 million range. At the time, this looked like a match made in horology heaven. Hodinkee had a massive audience and big ambitions in e-commerce; Crown & Caliber had the supply chain, tech stack, and nearly a decade of experience flipping Daytonas and Datejusts.
But as any collector knows, watch values don’t only go up. After the pandemic boomtimes for ultra-expensive timepieces fizzled, things started going sideways. The pre-owned luxury watch market, which had watched prices double from 2020 to 2022, suddenly got very cold. Hodinkee — with a warehouse full of depreciating steel — saw sales slow and margins shrink like wet leather straps.
A little over two years into the marriage, Hodinkee decided to cut bait. In October 2024, they sold Crown & Caliber to European Watch Company, a respected but much more traditional player in this space, based out of Boston. Unlike Hodinkee’s media-and-ecom hybrid approach, European Watch Company’s vibe is classic dealer: expertise, curation, and a focus on inventory discipline.
In plain terms: the high-flying, venture-fueled era of Crown & Caliber ended. A leaner, steadier phase began.
The Watch Market’s Chilly Turn: What Went Wrong?
To understand why all this drama happened, you have to look at the bigger stage. Between 2020 and early 2022, pre-owned watch prices were on fire. High-fliers like the Rolex Daytona and the Patek Nautilus traded for 100-200% over retail. Startups, YouTubers, and even hedge funds got starry-eyed with visions of endless luxury margins.
But in reality? Gravity works. By late 2022, secondary prices sank 30-50% on several “hype watches.” The sweet spot for volume sellers like Crown & Caliber shrank. Regular customers — folks who’d saved all year for a Submariner — started playing it safer, and the atomized online resale world (think Chrono24, eBay, and even Reddit) got more competitive.
For a company that had stocked up expecting rising prices, that hurt. By one count, Crown & Caliber dealt with inventory losses in the high six-figures, and parent company Hodinkee had to cut costs. Suddenly, the e-commerce dream turned into an everyday grind just to keep the lights on and the inventory moving.
Operational Adjustments: Smaller Team, New Playbook
Let’s rip off the Band-Aid. The staff cuts were brutal. By early 2024, reports showed Crown & Caliber let go of roughly 75% of its staff — everyone from seasoned watchmakers to Rolex pressure testers. For a business that once prided itself on in-house servicing and lightning-fast turnaround times, this was a seismic shift.
So what’s left? European Watch Company took over and moved the model toward what’s worked for them: tighter inventory, more direct sales, and less logistical bloat. That means fewer “try it at home” boxes, more in-person expertise (albeit remotely for now), and a shift away from huge marketing spends.
This isn’t just a Crown & Caliber thing, by the way. Around the same time, competitors like WatchBox and Bob’s Watches have also cut back, simplified service guarantees, or burned through VC cash looking for profitability. The used watch market at large is in a cost-cutting, trust-building phase — not a spend-happy land grab.
What Actually Changed? Day-to-Day Business Activities
Scroll through Instagram and you’ll notice it: Crown & Caliber isn’t running nearly the number of splashy paid ads, influencer collabs, or viral “list your Submariner instantly!” promotions. The site looks a little less gamified, a little more curated. There are still fresh listings every week, just not at the volume or fever pitch of 18 months ago.
But watch buyers can — and do — check out, pay, and get a verified pre-owned piece sent to their doorstep. In Q2 2025, the site regularly lists several hundred watches, ranging mid-four figures to the low $50,000s. There are fewer “hype watches” and more bread-and-butter models: Datejusts, Speedmasters, heritage Omegas.
The company’s social engagement is quieter, but their Trustpilot and Google reviews show that customers are (mostly) still getting the product they expect, at a price that lines up with market averages. It’s not the heady, speculative moment of 2022, but it’s also not the fire sale many expected after Hodinkee threw in the towel.
The business model shift is real. Under European Watch Company, Crown & Caliber acts less like a Silicon Valley marketplace and more like a high-touch, curated shop. The promise: fewer “Black Friday” blowouts, more long-term credibility. If you’re hunting for a deal, look for modest discounts. If you want your watch overnight with a rainbow of straps and slick packaging? That’s become rare.
Resilience or Just Hanging On? The Story Isn’t Over
Here’s the truth: surviving a boom-and-bust cycle in luxury retail is brutally hard, especially in a market obsessed with newness and status. But by sticking to basics — selling only authenticated watches, cutting non-essential costs, and focusing on their most reliable customers — Crown & Caliber hasn’t just vanished. If you land five recurring customers paying $2,000 margin per month, you’ve got a six-figure backbone before you break for lunch. Reliability and consistency might not trend on social, but they keep the doors open.
European Watch Company’s purchase wasn’t about betting on wild growth; it’s about letting Crown & Caliber run lean and consistent. They won’t match Chrono24’s marketplace scale, but they also don’t have to burn six figures a month on Google ads. The sweet spot, at least for now, is slow and steady — which probably feels boring for onlookers, but earns a lot of respect among seasoned business operators.
So is the “fun” gone? Frankly, yes. But sometimes keeping the lights on is the boldest move you can make.
Why This Matters for Other Businesses (& the Curious)
If you’re in any product business, the Crown & Caliber story is a masterclass in adapting on the fly. Scale up only when demand is real. Don’t over-leverage for boom years. Keep your burn rate sane, and be ready to sell “boring” but reliable products when hype fades.
It also exposes the reality that even sophisticated brands with solid reputations can get caught out when macro winds shift. The pre-owned market can make you a millionaire in a bull run but can gut your inventory valuation overnight. The phrase “you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out” lands hard here.
If you’re following stories like this, you’ll notice how the smarter companies are pivoting: flexible staffing, right-sizing inventory, and letting legacy operations handle what fast-growth digital brands couldn’t. Want more context on smart business pivots? There’s no shortage of ideas and tactics among operators at Business Back, where they dig into wins (and faceplants) across all sorts of industries.
Future Outlook: Will Crown & Caliber Last?
The punchline: Crown & Caliber is still kicking, just less loudly than before. As of mid-2025, they’re posting fresh inventory, fulfilling orders, and leaning into a business model that favors trust over scale. European Watch Company, now steering the ship, isn’t likely to chase headlines or burn through ad budgets. Instead, they’re playing to their strengths — curation, service, trust, and long-term relationships.
If you’re a buyer, you’ll see fewer fireworks, but a business that wants to keep you for years, not months. If you followed Crown & Caliber during the startup days, it’s a quieter, sharper experience. And if you’re wading into the murky waters of buying and selling anything valuable? Keep your eyes on companies like this. Survival — not hype — is the metric that counts.
In business, boring is sometimes brilliant. Crown & Caliber’s recent moves suggest that when the market corrects, it’s the operators who keep their heads down and adapt who earn the right to fight another day. The real flex isn’t unicorn growth — it’s being there for the next cycle, still answering the phone, still closing the deal, and always keeping an eye on the time.
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