BA111OD and a new chapter in 40 millimetres

BA111OD and a new chapter in 40 millimetres

Thomas Baillod, founder of the young Neuchâtel-based brand, is always surprising. It starts with the name. I was asked several times during INHORGENTA how to pronounce BA111OD. And the answer is quite simple: like Baillod. And why the "complicated" spelling.

Surprise 1: An unpronounceable name

"There are three reasons for this," says the Swiss. "The first and official reason is, of course, that it represents my last name. But this name doesn't belong to me alone; it also belongs to my family. Therefore, I felt it was arrogant to use this name for a project that only concerns me."

"The second reason is that I was looking for a name that couldn't be pronounced. I think I succeeded."

Thomas Baillod

"The idea was to quickly start a conversation. I experienced it myself when I wore my first prototype. Every time someone looked at my wrist, they asked me: 'What brand is that?' And if you can't pronounce the name, then you have to explain what you're wearing. That's crucial to my concept," says Baillod, explaining his form of marketing through the name alone.

"And the third reason is that my phygital approach should be reflected in the name. The font is very classic and represents traditional watchmaking. But then there's also the 1 and the 0, and that corresponds to the digital binary code."

Surprise 2: Unbeatable price point

A Swiss-made tourbillon for under €8,000. A Swiss-made three-hand watch with a certified Soprod P024 automatic movement for under €1,000. Where can you find something like that?

At BA111OD. And that has something to do with costs. "A major cost item in distribution is the physical store, where someone waits for the customer. The person themselves isn't that important, but the service that person provides is. So, service is the second major cost item in distribution. And third comes the warehouse, to keep the watches in stock for presentation. So when you walk into a store, you get service, storytelling, and you can see and feel the watch. It's an emotional experience," says Baillod.

"All of this accounts for about 50 percent of the price for the end customer. If we look at it internationally, including a distributor, this share increases even further, although it actually has nothing to do with the product itself, i.e., the watch itself."

Thomas Baillod

For this reason, Thomas Baillod developed his phygital sales concept. He completely rethought the POS, service, and warehouse.

Surprise 3: Back to the jeweler?

The sales strategy is based on so-called "affluent customers," a term coined by Thomas Baillod himself. These affluent customers (buyers of a watch from the brand) can, among other things, transfer the right to purchase BA111OD watches. However, the brand itself handles the transaction, shipping, and customer service.

Anyone who purchases a BA111OD watch automatically has the opportunity to earn tokens by selling another watch from the brand to someone else. An app tracks all these transactions and interactions and encourages Afluendors to further promote and sell BA111OD watches.

But Baillod didn't want to stop there and has been seeking collaborations with retailers for some time now – with reasonable margins for the retailer and without unreasonable price increases. In other words, Baillod itself is foregoing a potentially higher margin.

At INHORGENTA, he has now continued his search and presented his watches, which not only score points with their price point but also with their design, which was developed entirely in-house by Liliane Murenzi.

Surprise 4: Striking and unique

The "CHPTR_Δ" (pronounced "Chapitre Delta") model, for example, demonstrates eye-catching qualities, with its distinctive asymmetrical time display. The 40-millimeter version is new and comes in various looks:

A two-tone steel design with a golden-yellow PVD coating (CHPTR_Δ.9), an anthracite gray version with a bezel set with natural black diamonds (CHPTR_Δ.7), a version without a diamond-set bezel (CHPTR_Δ.6), and a classic steel model (CHPTR_Δ.8) similar to the 44-millimeter bestseller in the 2024 line. Various bracelet options are also available.

The "CHPTR_Δ" (pronounced "Chapitre Delta") is characterized by the duality between the circular minute display and the hypocycloidal movement of the hours in the foreground, enclosed within a triangle. The latter sometimes progresses faster and sometimes slower—just as we experience the passage of time at different speeds.

“I always knew that something was wrong with watchmaking.”

Thomas Baillod

While the minute hand circles the dial in one hour as usual, the hour is indicated by a small dot that follows a hypocycloidal path within a triangle, representing a non-linear interpretation of time. This is powered by the automatic movement with the BA111OD manufacture module 09310 and hypocycloidal time display based on Soprod M100.

The original idea for such a movement came from designer Diego Böttger-Zevallos. Just have fun, turn the clock—or a picture of it—and look at it from different angles. Sometimes it reads Module 09310, and sometimes, read upside down, "Module Diego." This is how Thomas Baillod pays tribute to the original movement developer, Diego Böttger-Zevallos.

RRP 3,250 to 4,150 €.

Surprise 5: Pretty smart

Anyone who purchases a BA111OD automatically receives Swiss-made NFC technology or a smart watch sapphire crystal. This allows a connection between the physical and digital worlds to be established – if the watch owner so desires.

By scanning the watch, your business card or any predetermined link can be transferred directly to the other person's mobile phone via the NFC glass.