Luxury Watch Boutique shopping experiences in Singapore

Throughout my watch collection journey over the past couple of years, I have visited a number of luxury watch boutique stores in Singapore. This includes official resellers like Cortina Watches, Hour Glass, and Sincere Fine Watches.

Today, I am going to focus on only the official boutique stores and my shopping experiences so far, particularly regarding customer service.

These are the official brand boutiques that I have visited so far:

1. Omega
2. IWC
3. Grand Seiko
4. JLC (Jaeger-LeCoultre)
5. Tudor
6. Cartier

Worst Customer Service:

Sadly, I have to mention Omega, despite it being my favorite watch brand. I once visited the Omega boutique store at Marina Bay Sands and had a disappointing experience. On my first visit, I wanted to check out a couple of Speedmaster Professional watches, in particular the newly released Omega FOIS model. I also wanted to try on the Omega Seamaster Professional and Aqua Terra models to assess their size on my wrist.

Unfortunately, the salesperson was uninterested in my requests. They didn’t even allow me to take photos of the watches I was trying on to help me decide on the fit. In my personal opinion, they seemed to be judging me as a customer, perhaps thinking that I might not be able to afford their timepieces. Little did they know that I was actually in the market to buy my first Omega. That sour experience led me to turn to authorized resellers like Cortina to make my first Omega purchase. I suppose when you don’t look or dress like you are made of money that simply dismiss me as a mere window shopper, not worthy of their time to entertain me. In my defense, it is not as if I enter the store like a hobo, with shorts and slippers. I tried to look as presentable as I can, wearing my Tudor Black Bay Ceramic that I recently purchased a few months prior, hoping it would bring some clout as a serious customer looking to buy his first Omega.

Best Customer Service:

The best customer service experience would have to be at Tudor. I had a very pleasant conversation with the sales representative at the Raffles City Shopping Centre outlet. The person wasn’t pushy about closing a deal or upselling other, more expensive watches. They were patient enough to describe the history and heritage of Tudor and the models I was interested in, particularly the Black Bay Ceramic, which I already knew about from my research online. However, I didn’t tell them that and allowed them to share their knowledge about the watch brand. Clearly, they were as passionate about watches and horology as I am, even when focused solely on the Tudor brand. Unfortunately, I didn’t buy a watch on my first visit, as the timepiece I wanted had a waitlist due to its immense popularity. In the end, I got my first Tudor timepiece from the Sincere Fine Watches outlet at Suntec City shopping mall. I was lucky, as the store had the last piece left in their inventory, the Black Bay Ceramic. Shortly after my purchase, I got a call from Tudor informing me that they finally had stock for me to purchase, but I had to decline the offer as I had already gotten mine from Sincere.

Notable Mention (with a Caveat):

Cartier customer service was also good overall. However, I must stress that they generally treated me well because I had the intention to purchase the Santos de Cartier in-store, and when I expressed that intention, I had their full attention. Despite that, while browsing the watches in their store at Takashimaya, it was generally pleasant, and the lady serving me was patient and agreeable with the watch I selected for my wrist. I bought the medium size of the Santos de Cartier, and it was perfect. When I confirmed my purchase intention, I was directed to a private room to complete the transaction and to allow me, with the assistance of the salesperson, to get the correct fit for the metal bracelet. She also showed me how to switch straps, which was easy, and how to care for the watch. She was also genuinely happy for my purchase of my first Cartier watch and looked forward to seeing me again at the store in the future. They even gave me free perfume!