What Subdial does

Subdial is a London-based, data-led trading platform for pre-owned luxury watches, founded in 2018 by Christy Davis and led by co-founder and CEO Ross Crane. The company serves a community of over 250,000 watch collectors worldwide, offering authenticated buying, selling, and trading of collectable timepieces from brands including Patek Philippe, Rolex, Cartier, and Breguet. Its core product is the Subdial Trading Platform, which enables collectors to use the value of their existing collection toward new acquisitions, complemented by the weekly Subdial Drop—a Thursday release of approximately 100 unique timepieces that reaches the full subscriber base.

The platform is built around a proprietary data stack anchored by the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index (launched in partnership with Bloomberg) and an auction results database of over 60,000 entries, which together power its live market valuation engine. Authentication is handled through an in-house workshop inspection process at Subdial HQ, with every watch backed by a 12-month warranty, tamperproof insured shipping, and same-day payment for direct sales. The Subdial Market tool exposes this pricing data publicly, and Subdial x ZING extends the platform into recurring insurance revenue backed by Subdial's proprietary market data.

Subdial generates revenue primarily through commissions on watch sales—either via direct purchase (same-day payment) or consignment through the weekly Thursday drop—and through ancillary insurance premiums via the ZING partnership. Distribution is anchored by the subdial.com e-commerce platform, a weekly email reaching over 250,000 subscribers, third-party listings on Chrono24, and a physical Clubhouse showroom in Farringdon, London, open by appointment. The company has raised approximately £5.5 million in total seed funding across rounds in December 2021 (£4M, led by Active Partners) and November 2024 (£1.5M, led by watch industry veteran Stuart Hennell alongside Active Partners).

Name

Subdial

Legal name

Subdial

Website

https://subdial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Subdial is a London-based, data-led trading platform for authenticated pre-owned luxury watches, serving a global community of over 250,000 collectors through weekly curated drops, live market pricing, and a warranty-backed authentication process.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pre-owned Luxury Watch Marketplace

NAICS

Used Merchandise Retailers (459510)

akta.pro primary industry

Luxury & Designer Collectibles Retail (Sneakers, Handbags, Watches) (CRALAGAN)

Keywords

• Luxury watch trading
• Pre-owned watches
• Watch authentication
• Collectible marketplace
• Watch market data

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Watch Sales Commission: Subdial charges a commission on watches sold through its platform. Sellers can choose to consign their watch (entered into the weekly Thursday drop) or sell directly. Consigned watches appear in the weekly drop, while directly sold watches receive same-day payment upon approval.
2. Watch Insurance Services: Subdial offers watch insurance in partnership with ZING, providing coverage backed by Subdial's live market data. This creates an ancillary revenue stream from the existing customer base of collectors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Subdial is a data-led collectable watch trading platform that enables collectors to buy, sell, and trade authenticated pre-owned luxury watches. It operates weekly curated drops of approximately 100 unique timepieces reaching over 250,000 engaged subscribers, and combines a proprietary trading platform with rigorous in-house authentication, a 12-month warranty, live market valuations, and tailored insurance products delivered in partnership with Bloomberg and ZING.

Product overview

Subdial is a UK-based luxury watch trading platform offering a suite of interconnected services for buying, selling, and collecting pre-loved luxury watches. The core product is the Subdial Trading Platform, which enables collectors to trade watches using their collection's value toward new purchases. This is complemented by weekly Subdial Drops (approximately 100 unique timepieces released Thursday to 250,000+ subscribers), the Sell a Watch service (direct purchase and consignment with authentication and warranty), the Subdial Market tool (Bloomberg-backed price index and auction results), Subdial x ZING Insurance (market-data-backed coverage), and the Subdial Clubhouse (physical showroom in Farringdon). The platform's key differentiators are its focus on authentication, transparency, data analytics, and community building.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Subdial Trading: Platform feature allowing collectors to trade watches using the value of their collection to buy grail watches
• Subdial x Bloomberg
• Subdial x ZING

Products and services

• Subdial Trading Platform Proprietary trading platform enabling collectors to trade pre-loved luxury watches using the value of their existing collection toward the purchase of new pieces. Features weekly drops, Subdial Trading functionality, and access to over 60,000 auction results.
• Subdial Drop Weekly Thursday release of approximately 100 unique authenticated pre-owned luxury watches, distributed to over 250,000 engaged subscribers via email notification.
• Sell a Watch Service for sellers to offload pre-owned luxury watches via direct purchase or consignment, with live market estimation, tamperproof packaging, insured collection, 48-hour in-workshop inspection, and same-day payment on direct sales. Every sold watch carries a 12-month Subdial warranty.
• Subdial Market Market overview tool providing live pricing data and auction results for thousands of tracked pre-owned watch models, including the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index.
• Subdial x ZING Insurance Watch insurance product backed by Subdial's live market data, provided in partnership with ZING and targeted at watch collectors seeking market-aligned coverage for their timepieces.
• Subdial Clubhouse Physical viewing space in Farringdon, London, open by appointment, designed as a destination for collectors to appreciate, discuss, and handle collectable watch references in person.

Quantifiable outcome

• Weekly watch drops grew by over 230% since 2021
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• BloombergcoreTechnology or IntegrationSubdial partnered with Bloomberg to create the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, a market index tracking prices of pre-owned luxury watches. This partnership provides Subdial's market data and analytics capabilities with Bloomberg's distribution and credibility, creating the authoritative benchmark for the pre-owned watch market.
• ZINGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubdial partnered with ZING to offer watch insurance, branded as 'Subdial x ZING'. This is positioned as the only watch insurance backed by Subdial's live market data, leveraging Subdial's market expertise and collector base to provide tailored insurance products for watch collectors.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Subdial