A company that ran an “sharing economy” service for luxury watches has disappeared and severed communications without returning hundreds of the valuable timepieces to their owners.

The termination of the service, called Toke Match, was announced on Jan. 31, along with the dissolution of Neo Reverse, the Osaka-based operator.

Neo Reverse said on its website that the watches would be returned to the owners within six months.

However, many owners who are still waiting for their watches said they have lost all contact with the company. At least one owner said he found one of his missing watches being sold on a flea market app without his permission.

According to a group of watch owners, around 730 or so watches, worth a total of 1.6 billion yen ($10.7 million), had not been returned as of Feb. 10.

The Toke Match service arranged for people to rent luxury watches from the owners, who received a monthly rental fee.

It was billed as a service that “connects users who can rent luxury brand watches on a monthly basis with owners who can earn a steady monthly income by depositing their luxury brand watches.”

Neo Reverse said the sharing economy service creates a “new style of wristwatch life” that gives more economic value to users than buying one and a more profitable value to owners than selling one.

The service quickly spread after starting in January 2021, and the number of the rental watches reached 1,500 in August 2023.

A 37-year-old watch dealer who lives in Nagoya and collects luxury wristwatches said he lent 45 watches, including Rolexes and an Audemars Piguet, worth a total of 60 million yen, to Toke Match.

He earned about 1.1 million yen a month as a rental fee for the watches, and the company had never failed to pay him at the end of the month, he said.

But when he checked his bank account on Jan. 31, he found that only 60,000 yen had been transferred.

He sent an email to the person in charge of Toke Match but received no response.

He eventually received a package from the company containing 17 of the 45 wristwatches he had provided. But these were the least expensive ones.

The remaining 28 watches, worth about 50 million yen, have not been returned.

He contacted a representative of the management company whom he had met, but the telephone number was no longer in service.

“The company’s website claims that it will return the goods within six months, so even if I file a damage report with the police, it won’t be accepted, so I can’t make any move,” he said. “I trusted the company, but I’m worried because I don’t know the background behind its sudden action.”

He said he is considering filing a lawsuit.

A 37-year-old office worker who lives in Yuki, Ibaraki Prefecture, regrets his decision to lend two Rolexes to Neo Reverse at the end of 2021.

“Although I lent them, they are still the precious belongings of my late father,” he said.

The watches have not been returned yet.

“Looking back, I may be at fault for trusting such an uncertain service,” he said.

The market prices of the watches when he joined the service were each nearly 500,000 yen.

He had received 25,000 yen a month as a rental fee. But the company dissolved without transferring the fee for January.

According to the contract he signed with the Neo Reverse, if the user loses the watch or otherwise fails to return it, Toke Match will pay 1.35 million yen as compensation for damages.

But the man said, “I doubt there are any savings left at the managing company.”

Also worrisome are suspicions the missing watches are being resold.

An office worker in his 30s living in Tokyo had deposited four Rolexes, worth 30 million yen in total, with Toke Match.

After the service was terminated, he heard a rumor that watches used in Toke March were being resold.

He searched online and found one of his four watches, worth 7.5 million yen, on a flea market app.

He consulted police, who later informed him that the serial number of the Rolex up for sale matched the number of his missing watch.

The watch owner said he plans to file a criminal complaint.

Neo Reverse was located at an apartment building in Osaka.

According to a source at the building, office supplies and vouchers, as well as around 200 boxes believed to be watch cases, had been left in the garbage collection site along with bulk trash items in the two weeks before the company’s dissolution.

The Asahi Shimbun requested an interview with the company in writing but had not received a response by Feb. 11.

The National Consumer Affairs Center, as of Feb. 8, had received 19 inquiries regarding Neo Reverse, mainly about watches that had not been returned after the company’s dissolution.