Assouline, the publishing house turned luxury lifestyle brand, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year — but, it seems, it’s just getting started.  Largely driven by Alexandre Assouline — the company’s chief of operations, brand and strategy and the son of its founders — Assouline is in growth mode: In addition to rolling out new product categories and services, it’s expanding its physical footprint and introducing new digital products, including a digital magazine and podcast.  “The library is at the forefront of everything we do; we aim to own the library space as a luxury brand,” Assouline said on the latest Glossy Podcast. “Your library is around you and your life every day, and it says a lot about you. When someone sees your library, they can identify your areas of interest, how you put books together, and the thematics of the books that you purchase and are being gifted to you. It's a place of creativity and inspiration. And we've been in the business of developing things around the library for 30 years.” Also in the episode, Assouline discusses the company’s plans to “redefine publishing as a luxury experience.” And he shares the brand’s physical expansion plans. 

On this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast, we talk with Quaid Walker, the co-founder and CEO of the online watch marketplace Bezel. Bezel, like the watch market in general, has seen significant growth over the last three years. It now boasts over $500 million worth of watches coming through its marketplace annually. Millions of new watch enthusiasts are getting into the market for the first time, and secondhand marketplaces like Bezel are among the best entry points for those new customers. Walker described the early pandemic years as “a massive bull run for all collectibles.” During that period, a ceramic Rolex Daytona in the “panda” colorway, which retailed for around $13,500, was selling on the secondhand market for over $55,000. It’s since evened out somewhat to around $32,000, reflecting the broader market which has also slowed from the mania of the early 2020s. “What happened was you got a lot of new buyers entering the market who got really interested in watches,” Walker said. “And now that we have a correction in the market, you have the buyers who got into it because they love watches excited because prices are coming down and they can finally buy some of the watches they’ve lusted after. But then the buyers who were in it for the investment side are leaving the market.” The way Walker sees it, people come to Bezel — and similar pre-owned marketplaces for luxury goods — for two reasons. Either they want a luxury product that they can’t afford new, in which case they buy something for below retail price, or they are looking for something that can’t be found new because it’s vintage or limited edition, in which case they buy something over retail price. “Our job is to cater the experience for both of those customers,” Walker said. “Our promise to buyers is that we authenticate everything, we make sure everything is working the way it should, and we take a customer experience that was otherwise frustrating and make it feel accessible, quick, thoughtful and attentive.”