In Chennai, Swiss luxurious watch boutique TimeVallée opens third outlet within the nation

How do you make the expertise of shopping for a luxurious watch, an immersive and memorable one? Through its third boutique in India and first in Chennai in collaboration with Art of Time, Swiss luxurious watch multi-brand retail outlet TimeVallée goals to just do that. 

At Chamiers Road, unfold over three ranges, the boutique homes eight manufacturers – Baume & Mercier, Bulgari, Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget, and Roger Dubuis. 

“Purchasing a watch is a giant dedication, and folks typically need to have a good time rewarding themselves in addition to getting one thing that they’ll move on to the subsequent era. We need to ship emotion by this journey, and that is how our shops are conceptualised as nicely,”  says Hélène Maslin, deputy CEO, TimeVallée. 

At the Chennai outlet, clients are welcomed on the primary degree after which go on to the second degree to see all of the eight watch maisons on show. “We are not looking for this expertise to really feel intimidating. Every model is correctly showcased in order that the shopper can know extra in regards to the historical past and DNA of the model,” she says. The third degree has a Time Cafe which Hélène says is instrumental in rounding off the buying expertise for the purchasers as a memorable one. 

While TimeVallée’s first luxurious watch boutique in India opened final yr in Mumbai, they’ve since launched a boutique in Bengaluru as nicely. “Indian clients are more and more keen to purchase watches and we are able to see demand. Since they largely purchase overseas, the concept was to be part of this journey nearer residence,” she provides.  A fourth boutique in India will open in Hyderabad subsequent yr, and commenting on their growth plans, Helene says she desires it to be sustainable, unique, and choose. 

For Bharat Kapoor and Gaurav Bhatia, administrators of Art of Time, which retails luxurious watches throughout the nation, Chennai has at all times been on the radar.  

“As far as restricted editions go, Chennai is a brand new marketplace for us however we’re excited to see the place this takes us. In Mumbai as an example, we’ve performed three completely different restricted editions which features a Lord Ganesha version with Roger Dubuis and a Panerai version with a Hindi calendar.  We wish to convey restricted editions like these to Chennai as nicely,  relying on how the market responds,” says Gaurav. 

India has additionally seen a gentle enhance in consciousness with regard to luxurious watches, its historical past and heritage, and the way coveted items are noticed on celebrities, mentioned and dissected on social media. “In the final 10 years, there was a large shift. We have seen a rise within the variety of younger professionals that go to our shops and have turn out to be shoppers over time. For girls as nicely. There has been a major shift from jewelry to watches as a giant buy and that is one other large evolution in our shopper base,” Bharat explains. 

In the approaching months, the area, Bharat and Gaurav say, will play host to attention-grabbing occasions for patrons and Chennai’s thriving group of watch fans.

 “We have hosted watch-making workshops for small teams the place individuals get to work on actions guided by a watchmaker who is available in from one other nation, and are given a certificates on the finish of the expertise. Looking past experiences with watches, we’re additionally taking a look at enjoyable engagements with supercars, and even restaurant pop-ups with the group right here,” Gaurav provides. 

TimeVallée by Art of Time is at 117, Chamiers highway, RA Puram, and is open from 11am to eight pm.