News · Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet puts its watchmakers behind Watch Keepers authentication

The manufacture's certified pre-owned service combines its own watchmakers' checks with condition grading and a two-year warranty.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 2 min read · 2 November 2026

Audemars Piguet has brought its own name to the online trade in pre-owned watches. The Swiss manufacture announced The Watch Keepers on 24 October as a certified pre-owned service, with the digital experience due to open on 26 October. Its proposition is built around the maker's role in checking a watch and explaining its condition to a prospective buyer.

The service is for Audemars Piguet watches, and its site describes a process that includes authentication, condition grading, photography and a two-year warranty. That is a different kind of announcement from a new reference: the object of interest is how a watch changes hands after its first sale.

The manufacture checks its own watches

The Watch Keepers says every watch entrusted to it is authenticated by Audemars Piguet watchmakers and checked against the manufacture's archives. For a buyer looking at a pre-owned piece, the important distinction is who conducts that check. Here, the service describes it as a task for watchmakers from the brand itself.

The site also says the condition of each watch and any servicing are assessed. It does not say on its general service page that every watch receives the same work, so the description of an individual listing matters. A condition assessment and a promise that every component has been replaced would be very different things.

A grade, photographs and a warranty

The Watch Keepers says watches are graded on a five-point scale, with professional photographs showing details, condition and character. Those are tools for reading an individual watch rather than a guarantee that two examples with a shared reference have led the same life. The listing still needs to explain the piece a buyer is considering.

Each watch is covered by a two-year warranty, according to the service's description. The site also says delivery includes an official certificate and a watch pouch, with the original box and papers when available. That qualification matters: the description does not promise the original accessories for every watch.

A digital home for a second life

In its announcement, Audemars Piguet described a digital experience for browsing authenticated and certified watches, alongside editorial content and a community. The Watch Keepers presents itself as the official Audemars Piguet certified pre-owned service, with a collection spanning historic and modern pieces.

For collectors, the structure puts the manufacturer into several stages of a transaction that might otherwise be assessed separately: the history of the watch, its condition and the support offered after purchase. The individual listing and warranty terms remain the place to check what applies to a particular purchase. The announcement does not supply one price for the service or the watches, and this is not a single new model with a standard list price.