Artificial intelligence appreciates values

DDG decides on joint co-innovation project with auction house and jeweler Eppli

Frankfurt am Main / Stuttgart, October 2022. DDG and Eppli launch their first co-innovation project in the field of "AI-based jewelry valuation".

As one of the largest auction houses and dealers of vintage luxury objects, Eppli sells exclusive "pre-owned pieces with authenticity guarantee" (more than 25,000 auctioned items per year) both online and in nine locations and thus operates in an exciting growth market: the market volume for second-hand jewelry and watches was already €21 billion worldwide in 2020 and is growing faster than the primary market for these luxury goods with 8% revenue growth per year.¹

Coupled with this growth, the luxury goods market is seeing an increasing demand for professional valuations, appraisals, and appraisals, so the need for increased efficiency through modern technologies such as AI is becoming ever greater. Until now, valuations have been carried out by experts and are therefore very time-consuming and costly, which is often opaque and therefore associated with mistrust for the selling jewelry owners. An AI-based solution is now set to speed up these processes, make them more transparent and optimize them.

"We are delighted to finally be able to work as a partner in this exciting market with such a long-established family business as Eppli and are excited about the joint solution," explains Philipp Schramm, COO of DDG AG.

"The joint project gives us new impetus. We have recognized that AI can offer many opportunities for process optimization and want to actively use this opportunity for our company," explains Ferdinand B. Eppli, managing director of Eppli.

DDG will support Eppli in the first step of developing a working prototype and later in a meaningful commercialization and go-to-market strategy for the jointly created solution. The project combines decades of expertise in jewelry valuation with AI and commercialization know-how to end the opacity and mistrust in the resale jewelry market.

¹ Source: The used luxury watch market is worth €15.75 billion - and growing fast (watchpro.com)