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Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND THE BRAND NAME MILLÉCHRON? AND WHAT DOES MAJESTIQUE, MONARQUE AND MERVEILLEUX MEAN?

Milléchron is a portmanteau of the two French words "Millésime" and "Chronometrie". In oenology, the term "Millésime" denotes an exceptional vintage year wherein the climate and terroir of a particular vineyard conspire to produce wine of peerless quality and rarity. This is an excellent metaphor for our astute hand-picking of particular elements of iconic vintage watches from ages past, which we then further refine in design, with both elegance and practicality in mind.

Naturally, the finest grapes harvested must then be worked on with equal passion and expertise, and so similarly our refined designs are then brought to fruition by our highly-skilled elite watchmakers and artisans.

As for "Chronometrie", or chronometry in English, the word emphasises our focus on creating watches of excellence, with not merely superficial beauty, but also serious timekeeping. For example, all our Majestique and Monarque watches carry full CLA Chronometry certification. And we are also passionately developing in-house complications that are exclusive to Milléchron in collaboration with one of the most esteemed watchmakers alive.

Majestique, Monarque and Merveilleux are Swiss-French for "majestic", "monarch" and "marvellous" respectively. The choice of Swiss-French names honours the pure-blooded Swiss origins of our watch movements, namely Fleurier in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel (Vaucher), and Les Reussilles in Tramelan (Soprod). Our watches are lovingly handcrafted in Saignelégier in the Jura mountains in accordance with the centuries-old tradition of Swiss watchmaking and craftsmanship.

 

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MILLÉCHRON AND ATELIER MILLÉSIME? 

The name of our brand was originally Atelier Millésime at our founding in 2018. To mark the next stage of our evolution as an horology house of gravitas and to celebrate our second anniversary in 2020, we have streamlined our brand name to simply "Milléchron". As part of this evolution, we have significantly improved our elite list of suppliers, as well as our finishing and level of craftsmanship. All watches that carry the Milléchron Seal now proudly reflect and exemplify this elevation of quality.

 

WHERE ARE MILLÉCHRON WATCHES MADE? 

All Milléchron watches are created, assembled and serviced in the atelier of Philippe Cattin, co-founder of Voutilainen & Cattin, in the tranquil town of Saignelégier in the canton of Jura, Switzerland. Although all Milléchron watches qualify as SWISS MADE, we intentionally omit printing this designation on our dials in the interest of aesthetic elegance, and because we believe our quality speaks for itself. On our casebacks are engraved "Handcrafted in Switzerland", reflecting the artisanal, small-batch craftsmanship of our watches.

 

HOW DO YOU HANDLE SERVICING?

Just send your watch back to us and we will service it for you with our compliments, hassle-free, during the warranty period. The Merveilleux Enamel's Soprod movement can be serviced with ease by most local watchmakers, or you can elect to send it back to us directly.

For the Monarque and Majestique, we have an international service centre in Switzerland run by Vaucher, as well as a global network of other service centres, that will service our sophisticated haute horlogerie movements. Owing to our policy of heartfelt modesty and honesty in looking after our watch owners, our clients have been delighted to find that the cost and time needed to service even our Vaucher haute horlogerie movements is significantly lower than the mainstream high-end watch houses. 

Our turnaround time is 1-2 months for routine servicing, significantly quicker than the industry average of 4-6 months. Even after the warranty period ends, we will always stand by our watches, and will service any watch that bears the Milléchron seal at cost price. 

Just send us an email at concierge@millechron.ch and we'll handle everything for you.

 

COULD YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE BENEFITS I RECEIVE AS A MILLÉCHRON CLIENT?

With great pleasure! As a brand by Benjamin Chee HH, we are able to leverage upon our Founder's personal connections and worldwide network, and provide our cherished watch owners with complimentary upgrades and amenities, and VIP treatment at hundreds of luxury hotels worldwide, as well as complimentary champagne and priority reservations at many Michelin-starred restaurants around the world. And we are constantly expanding our network and list of benefits, to further serve our clients and bolster the Milléchron ownership experience.

 

COULD YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE CHARITABLE CAUSES THAT MILLÉCHRON PURSUES?

With great honour and pride! Milléchron, as were the other two watch brands founded by Benjamin Chee HH, was conceived with the sacred mission of handcrafting Watches of Excellence and being a Force for Good. Simply put, we live our passion every day in designing and bringing to life the most beautiful and excellently-crafted watches we possibly can, and then delivering these watches, our labours of love, to our cherished watch owners whom we consider our dear friends, and ultimately dedicate a portion of our proceeds to directly contribute towards the shelter, food and care of homeless and abandoned dogs in Singapore, through our adopted dog shelter Gentle Paws.

Since 2016, our sister brand Celadon Horology has contributed a portion of her proceeds annually to Gentle Paws, and has helped to spread the word of this little dog shelter far and wide across the globe to all her clients. Moving forward, our aim is to fully fund the shelter rent, food and medical expenses of Gentle Paws and another two more dog shelters, a total sum of around 150,000 USD per year, so that their heroic volunteers can concentrate on the already backbreaking and emotionally draining task of rescuing, caring for and rehoming the dogs under their care, without having to constantly worry about how to settle their considerable expenses.

We are also just beginning preparations to contribute funds to two more causes dear to our Founder's heart - providing free and much-needed medical care to the elderly poor, and providing free education to underprivileged children.

As our brand grows in global prominence and sales, we hope to use our increased resources to further help more and more causes dear to our hearts, around the world. It is through this that we hope our watches, already our little babies with a soul, will be imbued with even deeper meaning.

 

HOW CAN I TRY ON A MILLÉCHRON WATCH?

We offer a special trial service for our watches which works as follows - the client puts down a deposit equivalent to 50% of the price of the watch (which is still below the cost to produce our watches, but is meant to show our trust in our cherished clients), and we then send a gently-used showpiece watch for him to enjoy for 1-2 weeks. If he decides he wishes to buy the watch, the client simply returns the showpiece watch to us and pays the remaining half, and we send him his new watch. Should he not wish to order the watch, he simply returns the showpiece watch to us and we refund his deposit in full.

 

HOW MUCH IS SHIPPING?

UPS Express is used as our default shipping service, and we are able to ship to pretty much any country in the world. We charge a flat rate of 133 Singapore dollars (about 98 USD) worldwide inclusive of secure bubble wrapping. Our watches generally reach most countries within 2-4 working days, and we have shipped to over 100 countries. For a less expensive alternative, we use Speedpost which takes about 7-10 days to most countries and costs 53 Singapore dollars (about 38 USD). If you would prefer to use a different shipping method, please contact us and we will arrange this at cost price.

Customs and taxes are the responsibility of the buyer. Feel free to contact us if you are ordering a watch as a gift, and we will declare this on the shipment. We however have no control over individual countries' customs policies.

  

I AM INTERESTED IN MAKING BESPOKE MODIFICATIONS TO AN EXISTING MILLÉCHRON MODEL OR CREATING AN ENTIRELY NEW MODEL. HOW DO WE PROCEED?

One of the benefits of being an independent luxury watch brand is our ability to cater to our cherished clients' needs in ways that the mainstream brands simply can't. We are very much able to make bespoke modifications or to conceive a new design exclusively for a client. Just send us an email at concierge@millechron.ch and we will take it from there.

 

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGING OF A MILLÉCHRON WATCH?

Included with our watches is a full top-grain calf leather racing green travel case with cream suede interior custom-designed by and handmade for us, which is both stylish and practical for travel. A rose gold metal Certificate of Authenticity, brushed and engraved by hand, also accompanies every Milléchron watch.

 

I AM INTERESTED IN FEATURING MILLÉCHRON IN A MEDIA ARTICLE. HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH?

Thank you for having us in mind! Just send us an email at concierge@millechron.ch

 

I AM INTERESTED IN RETAILING MILLÉCHRON. HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH?

We commend you on your impeccable taste! Just send us an email at concierge@millechron.ch

 

CAN YOU GIFT WRAP MY MILLÉCHRON WATCH?

We'd be delighted to! Just send us an email at concierge@millechron.ch, attaching your order receipt and any remarks on the giftee's preferences. As far as possible, we will endeavour to handwrite your message with our collection of vintage fountain pens to utterly delight your loved one.

 

CAN I SWAP THE STRAP ON MY MILLÉCHRON WATCH FOR A DIFFERENT COLOUR?

Most definitely, assuming the strap colour is available. Just send us an email at concierge@millechron.ch, attaching your order receipt and desired strap colour.