Leading pre-owned luxury timepiece platform WatchBox announced yesterday that it’s officially opened its planned Swiss headquarters at Rue de la Promenade-Noire 5 in the city of Neuchâtel.
This is the third physical location for Philadelphia-based WatchBox, which was cofounded by Govberg Jeweler’s Danny Govberg.
Watchbox Switzerland opened yesterday with a special selection of pre-owned Patek Philippe timepieces curated for the launch (showcased for private sale through Oct. 10).
The European headquarters is a brick-and-mortar reflection of the WatchBox buy-sell-trade digital experience. Included is a showroom (called the Neuchâtel Lounge) featuring pre-owned timepieces for sale, as well as space for private appointments and events, offering the opportunity for consumers to sell and/or trade in their pre-owned watches. The hybrid shop-showroom is staffed with multilingual watch experts.
The Neuchâtel Lounge is open to the public on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., and private appointments “are readily available outside of stated hours,” reads a company release on the opening. The showroom will also feature monthly watch events and collector gatherings (hosted the first Thursday of each month beginning Oct. 4).
The location also boasts a small production studio, dubbed WatchBox Studios, that intends to “produce live-stream broadcasts, hands-on watch reviews, podcasts, interviews, and creative film content from the heart of the Swiss watch industry.”
The opening of a pre-owned watch seller and consigner on the outskirts of Geneva is unique because the region has for generations been the incubator for new luxury timepieces. WatchBox’s arrival signals a sea change in how Swiss watches are being consumed, and recycled, by modern watch collectors and buyers.
Patrik Hoffmann will run the operation in Switzerland as the new executive vice president of the company’s Swiss division. He will be assisted by Herbert Gautschi, vice president of business operations for the division, and Susanne Hurni, vice president of marketing for the division—both also new hires.
“The opening of our Swiss location brings WatchBox’s expertise in the secondary watch market to the epicenter of the industry,” said Hoffmann in the same statement. “We’ve developed a ‘high-tech meets high-touch’ model to support the evolving needs of the modern watch consumer, and we believe this approach will strengthen and accelerate the acceptance of certified pre-owned across the industry.”
Top image: WatchBox Switzerland executive vice president Patrik Hoffmann in the new showroom (all images courtesy of WatchBox)
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