Seddiqi Holding unveils Swiss Watch Services facility

Dubai: Seddiqi Holding on Thursday officially unveiled Swiss Watch Services, the Middle East’s largest and most comprehensive customer care centre for timepieces.

With expertise in servicing over 60 watch brands and 200,000 spare parts in stock, the Swiss Watch Services’ staff of 59 professionals, are trained at the highest level of horology care and complications, reducing the need for collectors to send their prized timepieces abroad for service.

Recognised as an official Rolex service centre, Swiss Watch Services today services some of the industry’s most unique timepieces, including Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Hublot and Chopard to name a few. The facility provides after-sales service to all of the brand partners for Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, as well as a further range of fashion and luxury timepieces.

“The size and expertise of Swiss Watch Services has grown alongside the passion for watch collecting in the Middle East. Recognising the need for a facility in the region that could provide a global level of service, Seddiqi Holding has invested in our staff, technology, and location to provide the highest standards of trust and technical knowledge, which has been demonstrated through customer care relationships that date back more than 50 years,” said Abdul Hamied Ahmed Seddiqi, vice-chairman of Seddiqi Holding.

The roots of Seddiqi Holdings’ Swiss Watch Services date back to 1964 and a small workshop, with one dedicated technician in Souk Murshed servicing approximately 400 watches per year, to a 580sqm floor at Capricorn Tower, caring for more than 35,000 individual timepieces annually. With certification in quality from Rolex, Swiss Watch Services has equipment not found elsewhere in the region, including five levels of polishing, a waterproof testing facility, a thermic shock machine, and other equipment to monitor the technical performance of each timepiece.

“This facility is double the size of our previous facility,” Marco Stefano Bernasconi, general manager of Swiss Watch Services, told Khaleej Times. “We have also doubled the capacity of our technicians, and now employ 30 watchmakers, seven watch technicians, and four polishers; and we receive 100-150 timepieces a day.”

“Any partial service can take anywhere between one to two weeks, while a full service where we dismantle the watch completely and then reassemble it will take up to four weeks. With most mechanical watches the most common problem that people face is that their watch has stopped working completely, or that it has started gaining or losing time,” he explained.

“People who are in close contact with water should get their watch waterproofness tested at least once a year, while others should come in for a complete service after every four or six years,” Bernasconi advised.

He also predicted an increase in the number of people who will be seeking after sales services for their watches, as the retail market for timepieces in the region continues to grow. In the rare case scenario, where a customer brings in a watch that has stopped working and the problem is too complicated, the watch in question is sent to the factory in Switzerland, where the problem can be resolved in two months or a year depending on the watch brand and the repairs needed.

rohma@khaleejtimes.com