Philadelphia-based secondhand watch site WatchBox has appointed Andy Zhang (pictured) to be the first CEO of WatchBox China.
The Shanghai-based Zhang will lead WatchBox’s expansion into the Chinese mainland. He aims to establish the site as a resource and community for local watch collectors. It will open in its first Collector’s Lounge in Shanghai later this year.
Zhang has been a watch enthusiast since his primary-school days and an avid collector since the 2010s.
Prior to joining WatchBox, Zhang served as the director of watches in China for the auction house Phillips, where he worked on sales and business development.
Before that, he served as business development and client director for A. Lange & Söhne in the Asia-Pacific and China regions.
Zhang is the cofounder of Lange Nation, a social media community. He was also the initiator and co-organizer of the 2018 Shanghai Watch Festival.
According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, China has become the second largest watch market behind the United States. Nearby Hong Kong, long the top market, is now in third place.
Zhang said in a statement, “My mission is to elevate our watch culture through education, direct collector engagement, and access to extraordinary timepieces as we celebrate the dynamism of the local watch community.”
In November 2021, WatchBox announced that it had raised $165 million in funding, in part to finance its international expansion. More recently, Hodinkee editor-in-chief Jack Forster announced he was joining the site as global editorial director.
Photo courtesy of WatchBox
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