Watch Rental Site Eleven James Appears to Have Shut Down

At press time, watch rental site Eleven James had gone offline, and a story in Hodinkee yesterday reported the site was winding down "No public announcement has been made because Eleven James is trying to reclaim as many watches as possible as it winds down The likely fear is that if customers know that the company is folding, they might try to hold on to the watches indefinitely" Eleven James-named after James Bond-was founded in 2013 by luxury executive Randy Brandoff, who saw an opportunity to bring the "Sharing economy" ethos to the watch business.

For a subscription fee, which started at $249, users could borrow $5,000-plus watches, with the option to buy ones they liked In November, its chairman Olivier Reza replaced him as CEO, and the company announced it was "Reinvent[ing] itself as a luxury marketplace." It introduced Watch and Earn, a consignment program, as well as curated collections designed to match users' personality types The site had raised $10 million following its launch and another $30 million in January 2017, which included a $20 million senior secured term loan from Great American Capital Partners and $10 million in equity financing from existing investors and management.

Email requests for comments sent to Eleven James' customer service department were not returned, nor were requests for comment from company executives. . Source