Horological Meandering

I thought you might find interesting my experience from visiting Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet in Geneva.  In both cases, I followed the same procedure: I visited the stores with my companion. I greeted the first person that approached us in French. I asked to see a specific watch.

Here are the experiences:

Patek Philippe
Upon entering into the shop, I was amazed by the old world luxury in the decoration. There was a very nice, elegant perfume in the air and plenty of space. The shop was very quiet. The lady that greeted us with a smile asked what we were looking for and called a person to take care of us.  The gentleman that served us was very serious, seemed to be unexcited, spoke to us in English and offered us a seat in one of the available counters. There was no drink or anything else offered to us.  Upon explaining what I was looking for, he rushed to bring us the watch. He came back with the watch; the watch was in a really bad shape, full of scratches and with a really used strap.  I put on the watch myself and tried to check how it looked on my wrist on a small table mirror. I made a comment on the condition and he explained that this was a display model. I expressed an interest on another model but he did not bother to bring it to us. On our way out, they did not offer to give us any brochures.

Audemars Piguet
The shop was much more contemporary and sparkling. It felt smaller and there was not a particular perfume in the air.  It was luxurious but in the new world version, i.e. plenty of money but less taste. The lady that greeted us was the person who helped us. We spoke French. She was very pleasant, courteous, upbeat and always with a smile. She offered us something to drink or eat. After confirming what I was looking for, she was sorry to inform me that it was not available. Nonetheless, she rushed to bring us 4 watches that might interest me and 1 for my companion.  The watches were in a perfect condition. She helped me put them on after adjusting their straps. I could check the watches on a full sized mirror.  I did not like the watches but she kept being very apologetic for not having what I was looking for.
On our way out she offered to give us the latest Collections book and wished she would see us again soon.

Overall
I have mixed feelings. I loved the ambience at PP but  the customer service was "tired". On the other hand, the customer service at AP was superb but the environment was too "blingy"; It felt as if I was surrounded by diamonds.  In the end, I cannot say I was totally satisfied by both of them. I expected more from their flagship stores (watch availability, environment, service). Now, the boutique stores in Paris... but that's a different posting!

I hope you enjoyed it.

I also recommend the visit at the VC shop, for me, it's the most beautiful one with a warm welcome.

Can't wait for your comments about Paris because I know them very well.



Fr.Xavier

i would be in heaven there.... with so many stores and such selection!...  sorry to hear the downsides of each store... but at least both had positive notes as well.

 

one day i will be as fortunately to visit... my trip will be similar to most, with perusing the local watch stores as priority 1A

Hello prec_loc!

Thanks for sharing your experience with the rest of us.  What did you end up buying?

When I was at the AP Geneva boutique, it just opened so not much selection.  However, our experience there was positive.

Did you get a chance to visit the AP dealer in the Grand Kempinski Hotel?  They have great service and very knowledgeable sales persons.

-MW

I wouldn't expect to eat in a watch shop  but I would expect watches to be shown graciously by a knowledgeable sales person.

After retirement I sold Porsches for several years and found that "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince".  Your first sales person might have been exhibiting fatigue

Sometime service level is different between walk-ins and regulars but I would expect more attentive staff being in the watch capital of the world.

By the way, which two watches did you ask to look at.  Interested to know which model of PP is so "well handled" as a display piece and which AP is not available, perhaps older model?

/W72

especially in Geneva are over floded with brochure hunters every day
and staff has a lot of consumer experience, they know who is serious and who is not.
I have no idea what your expectations were but my experiences in Geneva,
where I come quite often, are very good.
Very polite staff, sometimes a bit pushy and true they usually don't serve drinks ride away
or have brochures ready at the way out.
To me it's not a problem, if I need a brochure of something, I just ask.
Geo

I had pretty much the same experience. When I went to the PP boutique, I had an old patek on and asked them to open it/get the ref. number. Although the gentleman helped me, the store was empty and it didnt seem like anyone was very happy I was there. I felt uncomfortable based on my age, which was BS given that a non-trivial chunk of their business (at that location) was russian kids around my age. I didnt feel comfortable asking to see some of the very rare watches they had there (which I now regret). AP was great- as you described. It didnt have any sort of museum feel to it, but I didnt expect it to.

VC was very laid back- the guy was very helpful, nice, and unpretentious- he was very excited to show me the redesigned overseas (this was a couple years ago). Roger Dubuis was a very nice looking store- when the lady saw I wasnt going to buy ten watches for cash, she lost interest in speaking to me- she also wasnt particularly knowledgable. I have to say, my BEST experience with a brand store was the GP boutique in gstaad- the couple that ran the store were absolutely terrific- knowledgable, nice, passionate. They later set up a factory tour for me and some friends which was one of my greatest memories from switzerland- it definitely gave me a lot of respect for GP and it will be a on my mind whenever i consider buying a watch as a result.

As was discussed in the Rolf Schnyder interview, a brand store is advertising. My experiences at these stores has contributed to my views of the brands. And if I have a particularly bad/good experience, I will no doubt hold on to it and have it affect my purchases.

Of recent visit to Geneva could manage to squeeze in a couple of hours of free time to walk around such a pleasant city of indeed superb ambience. Went into PP boutique and having Asian looks seems to attract sales personnel. Correct me if I am wrong but Asians seems happens to have more disposable and gullible cash to splurge. The ambience within the boutique was a real treat. From the 1st floor where one can see the normal range, upper floor where the complications are displayed and higher floor where the real true collectors could have the best view overlooking Lake Geneva. Service rendered was always superlative if one happens to be a regular and guess first impression of potential sales also must be taken in account. As for AP, it is always known to be attracting less. Could that be the reason sales floor have to offer additional service beyond the call of duty to get the till ringing??

My experiences were not meant to critisize the brands in a mean-spirited way. They were what they were. I want to believe that the employee at PP was simply tired or in a bad day; it happens to all of us. Nonetheless, by the way I was approached, I got the feeling that they did not want to push a sale. They expected the customer to know what he is looking for.  There was this "we are the best" attitude without demonstrating an obvious arrogance. I was not intimidated at all but I can see how a newcomer would turn away.  They clearly did not make any effort to sell their brand.

AP was indeed trying to please me by showing me Millenary models I hadn't seen before. By the way, I declined to drink or eat anything; I was there to see and buy a watch. Nonetheless, their gesture was appreciated. They were not offended I did not buy anything. After all, they did not have the piece I wanted to buy.

These experiences have not changed my opinion about their watches. Different stores will give you different experiences. I agree the service in Gstaad is superlative, everywhere. Nonetheless, the flagship stores give a taste of the intangible package each brand is trying to build around their watches. AP is going after the modern, the new money, PP is targetting those in the know...  this is only my subjective view.

Geneva is THE capital of horology. You have to be there at least once. You owe it to your passion!