Built to Last

Make after-sales service a key consideration in your watch purchases.

- Brian Jones

It’s easier than ever to fall for luxury watches these days. Instagram, for one, is perhaps the most common gateway drug to horophilia on the streets. The photo-sharing mecca is replete with glamour wrist shots from horophiles the world over, served up on an infinitely updating feed like the most tantalising train of sushi platters. (Or for heartier horological helpings, look to esteemed publications like this one.) Until, one day, feeling satisfactorily informed, heavy of wallet, and chomping at the bit to sample the fruits of horology’s most venerable brands themselves, they buy their first watch.

But reaching that pivotal point — saying ‘I do’ to a timepiece and settling the bill with a high-street boutique — is just the beginning of the process. From that point on, much like in a marriage, our priority becomes the protection of our newest life investment.

Critically important, whether choosing your first luxury watch or adding another to a personal trove, is educating yourself on your brand’s aftersales service. In fact, it is the key to ensuring a long and happy horological union.

Luxury watches, unlike the vast majority of our modern technologies, can be long-term investments. After-sales policies assure us of the reliability of those investments, offering services for their proper maintenance and providing us with peace of mind.

SAFETY IN NUMBERS

The terms of these services vary by brand, but most offer a two-year guarantee against defects from the date of purchase. Recently, however, a few brands have upped the bar.