Every watchmaker loves an anniversary. For some, it is a way to remind customers of their centuries of heritage, for others an excuse to revive a historic design.
In the case of BA111OD, a Swiss independent watchmaker, its fifth anniversary this month is a time to remember just how far the brand has come over a period that some of its countrymen would consider a blink of an eye.
And, in recalling those first five years, the business can also remind the world how its radical business model has delivered well beyond the expectations of its more conservative industry peers.
From the outset, founder Thomas Baillod believed there was a better way to make, sell and market watches than either the traditional wholesale model or direct to consumers through physical stores.
By embracing modern digital media, the brand set out to make every customer who bought its watches into an ambassador who could spread the word about BA111OD to friends and associates.
This highly effective model kept overheads low and costs to a minimum, and allowed BA111OD to make and sell beautifully finished and sometimes complicated watches at well below the prices of traditional Swiss businesses.
Stunning time-only watches with Soprod P024 skeleton automatic movements are retailing for under $650 while highly complex skeletonised tourbillon pieces, which would typically be priced by historic Swiss marques at well-over $40,000, retail for less than $7,000.
Every step along the journey has been a new chapter in the BA111OD story, and Mr Baillod has chosen to name his watches the same way: Chapters 1 to 8 are the names given to collections over the first five years.
Through these chapters, Mr Baillod has made it his mission to make Swiss mechanical watchmaking, with all its craftsmanship, accessible to a broader audience while igniting a true passion for this centuries-old art.
This mission continues in BA111OD’s fifth anniversary watches, which are arriving in a three-act trilogy of launches in October, November and December.
First up is a limited edition watch dedicated to the company’s home, the watchmaking mecca of Neuchâtel, and carries a miniature painting of the town in acrylic on its dial.
The first watch is called Authenticity, a name that conveys BA111OD’s commitment to contributing to the centuries of watchmaking skills that have built up in the Swiss canton.
The second act, arriving on November 11, will be called Daring, and will feature the Neuchâtel mountains, immortalized by the majestic Creux du Van, in another miniature acrylic painting on the dial.
A third and final piece in the trilogy, which drops on December 11, will be named Craftsmanship, and pays tribute to the watchmaking hubs of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds through a dial painted with a scene of La Chaux-de-Fonds.
The second and third parts of the trilogy will be unveiled in more detail on their launch days.
But the first watch, which can be pre-ordered now for CHF 9,400, is the first BA111OD with a true métier d’art dial.
Each dial is hand-painted by the exceptional artisans of Atelier Blandenier, based in Geneva and Neuchâtel.
The company’s owner, Christophe Blandenier, says decades of experience and expertise are poured into each piece. “This technique demands as much meticulousness, excellence, and patience as it does accuracy in the artisanal gesture. As a Neuchâtel native and a close friend of Thomas for over thirty years, I am particularly proud that the artisans of Atelier Blandenier lend their talents to the first ‘métiers d’art’ dials of the BA111OD house’s timepieces,” he says.
The 44mm watch comes in a grade 5 titanium case housing a hand-wound, modified BCP movement with a tourbillon positioned at 7 o’clock and its winding crown at 4 o’clock.
The skeletonised anthracite movement, produced and finely-finished by watchmaker Olivier Mory, has a 105-hour power reserve and is presented via an exhibition case back.
