The needed improvement for a successful sale
From 2013 to 2018, FA.MA worked with Watchfinder&Co. during one of the most transformative periods in the company’s growth. What began as a role focused on marketing and brand design expanded across almost every customer-facing touchpoint - from campaigns and printed communications to boutiques, digital product, UX research and UI design. Over five years, the work evolved alongside the business, helping shape a more coherent, credible and premium experience across both physical and digital environments.
Grow consistently with credibility
Pre-owned luxury watches present a particular challenge: customers are being asked to make significant purchases, often online, while placing enormous trust in authenticity, condition and expertise. Watchfinder wanted to become the defining name in that market - a brand with the credibility and desirability associated with the manufacturers it sold. At the same time, a rapidly growing business needed its marketing, website, retail spaces and wider identity to mature together, without losing the accessibility and entrepreneurial pace that had driven its success.
From branding to premium user journey
The work developed from the inside out. Early involvement centred on marketing, visual identity and campaign assets, establishing a more consistent and premium language for the brand. As Watchfinder expanded into physical retail, that thinking was carried into boutique design, graphics, printed materials, customer communications and in-store touchpoints. In the final years, the focus increasingly shifted towards digital product: analytics, user research, journey mapping, testing, wireframing and interface design became the foundation for rethinking how customers researched, compared, bought and sold high-value watches online.
Let data drive the decisions
One of the most important decisions was to treat trust as part of the experience rather than simply a marketing message. Product imagery, information hierarchy, navigation, expert content and transactional journeys all needed to make customers feel informed and reassured. The UX work focused on reducing friction while keeping the depth expected by serious watch buyers. Rather than redesigning for novelty, the team used analytics, research and repeated testing to identify what should change, what should remain familiar and where clearer interactions could directly improve confidence and conversion.
From luxury brand to luxurious experience
The result was not one isolated redesign, but a connected brand ecosystem developed over several years. Marketing campaigns, stationery, editorial material, boutique assets and customer communications were supported by an increasingly sophisticated digital experience. Mané and the development team helped establish Watchfinder’s first dedicated UX/UI capability, carrying out research and testing before redesigning the core website experience. The resulting architecture, journeys and interaction principles created a stronger foundation for the platform and continue to be recognisable in the way the Watchfinder experience has evolved since.
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The work coincided with an extraordinary period of growth for Watchfinder. During the website transformation, daily views increased from approximately 50,000 to 80,000 and conversions doubled. The company grew from just over 30 employees around the beginning of this period into an international business with seven boutiques and around 200 employees publicly reported at the time of its acquisition. In the financial year ending March 2018, Watchfinder generated £109.2 million in sales. Just months after the end of the collaboration, Richemont acquired the business - recognising Watchfinder as a leading platform in the global pre-owned luxury watch market.
