Shiyoh Hirano, Haruna Kawaguchi, Yuri…Why are they flashing their luxury watches on SNS? Investment? What are the unexpected reasons?

Former King & Prince member Shiyoh Hirano (26) has become a topic of conversation for wearing a luxury watch on social media.

It all started on August 14, when attention was drawn to the luxury watch he wore on his right wrist during his first Instagram live. Some viewers tried to identify the watch brand, and it is said to be the “Ocean by Retrograde Automatic” from the American luxury jewelry brand Harry Winston. The price varies depending on the size, but a 36mm watch has a list price of 8,070,000 yen, while a 42mm watch has a list price of 1,170,000 yen. In any case, it is an ultra-luxury watch of another dimension,

The price is so high, it’s not even funny.

“He must have made a lot of money to be able to afford such a watch even after such a short period of activity.

Hirano has been a luxury watchmaker since he was a member of Johnny’s group. Hirano has been known for his love of luxury brands since his days as Johnny’s’s. In July, he posted an Instagram photo in which the watch on his left wrist was identified as a Rolex Day Date Pavé Diamond with a list price of 8.69 million yen.

In recent days, brand-name watches worn by celebrities often come up on social networking sites. In a photo posted by Haruna Kawaguchi (28) on Instagram in July, it was identified as ‘Royal Oak Automatic’ by Audemars Piguet. Its price is 7,645,000 yen, the list price according to the official website. There are more than four other watches, including Rolex, just confirmed. All of them are ultra-luxury wristwatches priced over 1,000,000 yen.

Yuuri, 29, distributed her watch purchase on her YouTube channel. It was an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph, a super high-end watch with a list price of 11,220,000 yen,” said a watch magazine editor.

Many viewers may consider it “bragging” when celebrities show off their watches on Instagram or distribute their own videos, but Toru Yoshiyama, president of the Yohkichi Group, a luxury watch purchasing company with annual sales of 60 billion yen, who is familiar with the distribution of luxury watches, explains as follows Ltd., a company specializing in the purchase of luxury watches with annual sales of 60 billion yen, explains as follows.

There are two reasons for showing a glimpse of a watch on SNS. For example, the Harry Winston that Mr. Hirano wears is not very popular among luxury watch enthusiasts. Even if the list price is 10 million yen, the purchase price in the secondary distribution (when it is purchased and sold by so-called private individuals for investment purposes or buyers) is about 5 million yen, half the price.

The target of the brand is also the ultra-wealthy end-users who are not looking for investment purposes. In order to advertise to such users, there is a long-standing advertising technique in this industry of asking popular celebrities to wear the brand and show glimpses of it on TV and SNS, and this is a possibility for Mr. Hirano as well.

For example, GACKT (50) wore a 60 million yen “Roger Dubuis” on TV a few years ago, but we heard that it was a gift from the brand.

A person involved in the luxury brand watch industry also analyzes the situation in this way.

However, there is no commonality between the Harry Winston and Rolex watches worn by Ms. Hirano. I think this is a rare pattern. As for Harry Winston, it is still likely to be a collaboration with the brand. Of course, it is also quite possible that you purchased the watch yourself. As for Rolex, I am certain that he purchased it himself.

Another reason is for investment purposes. It is almost impossible to purchase Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin, which are said to be the three major watchmakers, as well as the popular Rolex and Richard Mille, at regular prices. Those who still wish to purchase a watch at a certain price are forced to buy one from the secondary market at a “premium price.

For example, the total price of an Audemars Piguet or Rolex owned by Mr. Kawaguchi would easily exceed 100 million yen. Mr. Kawaguchi probably purchased them at regular prices. Just by a popular celebrity wearing and showing a glimpse of the watch, the popularity of the watch increases further, and the effect of raising the market price is sufficient.

On the other hand, Ms. Yuuri paid 15 million yen for the video. This is about 1.5 times the list price, so she definitely purchased it in the secondary distribution. As for the reason why the video was uploaded, it is possible that she helped the store advertise the product. It is Mr. Kawaguchi who can be said to have succeeded in terms of investment purposes,” said Mr. Yoshiyama.

In any case, it is an enviable story that the average person has little to do with.