Bucherer Brings the Wow Factor to Customers with Its New Masterworks Concept

Leading multi-brand retailer Bucherer has certainly come a long way since merchant and entrepreneur Carl-Friedrich Bucherer and his wife Louise opened their first specialist watch and jewelry store in Lucerne in 1888.

Today, 135 years on, in Europe alone, the family-owned business now boasts 37 boutiques across six markets – Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Austria, Denmark, and France – with its Paris store the largest watch and jewelry outlet in the world. Plus, in the US, under the banner of Tourneau – which Bucherer acquired in 2018 – the company operates an additional 21 stores across nine states.

Of course, when you carry iconic timekeepers from popular brands like Rolex, Omega, Breitling, or TAG Heuer and blend that with Bucherer’s high level of customer service, you are always likely to be a winner.

But Bucherer isn’t just about the mainstream. Rare is it that you can walk into a watch store and find a Mido Ocean Star Tribute in the same vicinity as a Ulysse Nardin Moonstruck or that you can try on an Oris Divers Sixty-Five before wrist-testing a Roger Dubuis Excalibur, but at Bucherer you can because if you’re a fan of exclusive haute horlogerie, Bucherer has you covered.

What’s more, Bucherer is not just an authorized retailer of established high-end brands: Hyper creative niche brands who are perhaps not yet household names also feature among its rich and varied portfolio: Urwerk, Ressence, and HAUTLENCE, to name just a few.

In a clever new move, Bucherer has created a new in-store platform, one that actively promotes and educates clients about its offering of top-tier timepieces packing pioneering mechanics and impressive craftsmanship. Moreover, it’s designed to help introduce the retailer to those customers ready to progress to the next stage of their watch-collecting journey. Step forward Masterworks.

“Masterworks is Bucherer’s stage for exceptional masterpieces of artisanal and innovative haute horlogerie, where masterpieces from big established as well as niche independent brands are highlighted and curated,” Bucherer Head of Haute Horlogerie Olivier Gantenbein told Watchonista during our recent visit to its Geneva flagship store.

He continued: “This stage gives customers the opportunity to discover and experience true watchmaking masterpieces and deep dive into the fantastic world of fine watchmaking. Just as with pieces of art, these timepieces captivate the viewer’s gaze and open completely new dimensions within the world of watchmaking.”
 

One of Bucherer’s missions is to support those established watch brands that have been pushing the envelope of traditional watchmaking and continue to stay innovative today. “Blancpain, Breguet, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre... These brands have helped shape the art of fine watchmaking as pioneers for decades,” said Gantenbein.
 

There is also a focus on niche independent brands whose names are not yet widely known. Consequently, eye-catching creations by Czapek, H. Moser & Cie., Urwerk, or L’Epée 1839 are featured among the selected pieces of Masterworks.
 

Gantenbein said: “As a trusted retailer since 1888, we use our credibility to create and increase awareness of these smaller independent brands who are also pushing the boundaries. We want to shine a spotlight on these brands and the artisans behind them.”
 

Bucherer is rolling out its Masterworks concept globally, setting up permanent spaces in many of its flagship stores.

“In Switzerland, there are permanent Masterworks spaces in our Geneva, Lucerne, and Zurich flagship stores,” said Gantenbein. “In Germany, we have a permanent Masterworks space in Berlin, and next year in Frankfurt. If you are in London, you can discover Masterworks at our Covent Garden boutique. And in the US, there will be a Masterworks space at our Las Vegas store when it reopens in May, as well as in our New York City boutique very soon.”

Those living far from a Bucherer flagship store need not despair. As part of a “roadshow” format, Bucherer is setting up temporary Masterworks spaces at various locations to bring a mouth-watering selection of its Masterworks watches directly to customers’ doorsteps.

In Switzerland, ten cities, such as Lugano, Lausanne, Basel, and Bern – will be served with the roadshow, while in Germany, the roadshow will visit Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Munich, and other cities.

For more information about Bucherer’s Masterworks, including dates and locations for its roadshow, please visit Bucherer’s website dedicated to Masterworks.

(Photography by Pierre Vogel, video by Johan Corminboeuf)