After-sales and beyond

Business is all about selling, and watches are no exception. But then what? “That’s the problem,” notes an American collector visiting the SIHH. Many brands put customer service second to how their products are presented, and then find themselves unable to service their watches within reasonable time.”

Listening to the experts, service and repairs are one of the key areas in which brands can stand out in this highly competitive branch.
Aldo Magada, CEO of the Genevan watch firm Badollet, would be first to agree. A newcomer in Fine Watchmaking with very high-end timepieces produced to order, Badollet has made after-sales service a crucial aspect of its strategy. As Aldo Magada explains, “Our positioning has never been anything other than exclusive. Our image must be that of Jean Badollet himself, a typically Genevan spirit in which discretion and Calvinism shine through. Genevan luxury isn’t about the superfluous. It’s a more personal consideration, never showy.”

The ultimate luxury

Giving substance to these words, Badollet is committed to giving its customers the benefits of Fine Watchmaking at every point in the sale, and beyond. Building on this determination to make the watch the ultimate luxury object, Badollet has developed an after-sales service concept whose central premise is to satisfy its customers’ every desire, from delivering the watch to its new owner to maintenance and repairs, from a concierge service to personalised contact via a secure e-link.

Custom service such as this is unique in the sector. “The concept of luxury is incomplete without personalised service at every level,” Aldo Magada notes.

In a word, the watch is like a masterpiece in oils, a work of art that must be cared for while ensuring its owner enjoys five-star treatment. Badollet has named its after-sales service Ishango Lodge, after the Congo village where one of the first ever time-measuring instruments, more than 20,000 years old, was found. Each of the company’s watches is delivered with a membership card and a USB stick. This gives its owner access to a personalised web page, the gateway to a mine of information from service updates to contact with artisan-watchmakers and information on watches. All of which reassures the customer that their needs are being heard.

A five-year assistance

Equally innovative is the loan of a Badollet Ishango watch while the customer’s own watch is being serviced. Aldo Magada emphasises that this unique model will not be available to purchase, “as a further guarantee of exclusivity.” Add to this a luxury concierge service, on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week for customers wishing to enquire about their cherished timepiece. What more could one ask for? Free servicing, perhaps? “Each timepiece purchased from Badollet is delivered with a five-year warranty,” continues the brand’s CEO. A gesture of goodwill from the firm but a calculated one too: a Badollet watch will set its owner back an average of CHF 200,000.

Made to measure

Badollet takes the exclusivity at the heart of its strategy a step further and, outside the SIHH, launches its first timepieces. These include the Crystalball whose single pushpiece chronograph is one of watchmaking’s most delicate complications. A choice of three dials and an array of rings mean the Crystalball can also be personalised to its owner’s taste.

Each watch is produced as a limited edition to preserve the exclusive nature of the brand. Equally eye-catching is the Stellaire tourbillon whose plate is sculpted from meteorite, a material that is notoriously difficult to work with. As a further distinction, the colour of this meteorite will differ with each watch. Indeed, with over 91% iron, meteorite can be treated to produce a more or less blackened appearance without any effect on the watch’s functioning. When it comes to exclusivity, clearly the sky’s the limit.