Chatel Fine Watches

Nice watches, I must say. However, seriously marked up when compared to Jomashop watches. The guy behind the counter, I think the owner, knows he is quite high on the cost of his watches, but is willing to give 5% off, but the markup is still outrageous.
It’s great to window shop there, and check for a better price at Jomashop. Check it out and see I’m totally right.

Made a trip to Carmel around sevicing my Panerai. The only place I know that services the Pan in house rather than sending it to NY or Texas and waiting 3 months. Also the horror stories involved with the service, customer service, and shipping. The owner has worked for Panerai so he knows the ins and outs of the product. Waiting time should be 3 – 4 weeks and I cant wait. Great selection of other fine watches and his knowledge is very extensive. I will follow up with this review when I get my watch back.

I am happy to report that this business did a great job on repairing my watch .They did a great job. Thank you, I will use your service again and recommend you to others. You are a world class.

The best panerai collection I have ever seen! Boom! Great guy. They even have Bell & Ross. I had a hard time leaving and I was shaking when I left in amazement of what I just witnessed.

This place is incredible, truly a gem. The employees were eager to help out, and the number of different watch companies present such as Breitling was astonishing. They even had the brand new Bentley Supersports Light body QP! The employees were incredible patient and helpful as well. Definitely a must go place if you are in the Carmel area!

Hugue Chatel was recommended to me through the Panerai watch community for his excellent authorized repairs. I have sent him two of my very special watches for repair and maintenance and I highly recommend him and his business. Amazingly professional and prompt (even over email) and always helpful. His repairs can take a little bit of time but that is because he is doing them the proper and correct way (getting the original manufacturers parts which introduces some time). I now have a life-​long relationship with Chatel & Co and recommend them highly to anyone.

Excellent customer service. I took an old vintage Vacheron Constantin in that I inherited. Mr. Chatel was very knowledgeable and very helpful. He has a great collection of the top watches in the world.

I made a special trip to Carmel to stop by since I’ve read positive things about Hugues at Chatel on Paneristi. Its becoming increasingly rare these days to find a watch store where the salesperson not only knows much more about watches that I do, but is also a master watchmaker and the store owner as well! I must have at least two hours there chatting with with Hugues.
I also left watch for service in person since I needed. There’s plenty of horror stories about sending your watch to the Official Panerai Service Center in Texas, Chatel is only 1 of 2 official service centers in California. Though I was suffering seperation anxiety with my beloved Panerai, I felt much better about leaving it with him vs shipping it to the Panerai Service Center in TX, let alone the horror stories about long waits, damage and wrong parts being installed! Hugues was courteous to give me an honest assessment, estimate, and updates for my watch status. I felt it was like talking to the master auto mechanic himself (better) vs talking to a car dealer service advisor (ugh). When I got my watch back, it was in like new condition and couldn’t be happier.
Highly recommend for Panerai service. If you’re in the market for a new watch, Hugues is an encyclopedia of watch horology and can probably steer you in the right direction as well.
Thanks Hugues and Chatel!

I am not sure who shops here, because Bernie is serving 178 years, Bill must already own tons of watches, Aristotle is six feet under and and frankly all the other billionaires I know of must be living in Dubai. Then, there is me, staring at a $ 565,000 watch which would be perfect a personal gift to me, from Yel, p for all my lovely reviews. Still. I must say. I love the atmosphere in this boutique. There are even some map making devices perfect for that person that has to have everything. Go in, pull out that gold American Express card and blow an entire twenty years worth of wages on a single item. Heck… its still a way better deal than those crapola on-​line college degrees! Actually, I am not sure if credit cards would work here, I think you have to bring in gold.

The previous review was great and I agree with Ryan F.‘s comments.
That said, I have a few more to add…
First of all, the store space is fantastic. It gets lots of light and has a groovy tall beamed ceiling that gives the store a spacious an airy feel. There are lots of great cases filled with amazing watches, and Jeannie and Hugues have a great way of asking if they can help without making you feel stalked or followed.
As for my shopping experience: I was in Carmel for a vacation and was shopping for a watch to commemorate a special occasion. I had narrowed it down to the brand, but I wasn’t sure about the style.
I talked with them about price and then shopped around closer to home and online when I returned from Carmel.
In the end I returned to Carmel and to Chatel & Co because I felt like I wanted to give them my business more than others who were offering similar prices. (The fact that it is about a 2 hour drive for me to do this, also says something about their service. Well, I *really* like Carmel, too ;-))
In the end, Chatel helped me to select not only the right watch – but more importantly, the right watch for *me*.
Some watches that I liked, just didn’t suit my whole person. Hugues and Jeannie had the vision and astuteness to gently guide me to the watch that suits both my spirit and my style and I couldn’t be more pleased with my purchase. I really love the watch I ended up with.
(A really really cool Jaeger LeCoultre. Mechanical with a sparkly diamond side and a plain day side.)
At one point I wasn’t sure if I wanted metal or leather for the band.
Like a magician, Hugues pulled out this great strap to try with the watch from this giant box of really cool straps.
I have several watches in my watch wardrobe – and will definitely come see Hugues for my services, batteries and strap needs in the coming years.
They are an absolute pleasure to do business with – and Hugues really does have the patience of a Saint. He knows watches from the stylish outside, to their delicate inner cores and I felt very, very comfortable supporting their business.
The store is on Lincoln between Ocean and 7^th Avenues in Carmel by the Sea. The Unilocal address is being petitioned to be changed (I just tried to fix it as a user.)

This is a great boutique, independently owned, watch store. Much better service and atmosphere than the chain Lusori around the corner. Walk in Lusori and you are made to feel as if you shouldn’t bother walking in unless you just hopped out of your Bentley. Go into Chatel and Jeannie and Hugues (owners) are very nice people with an amazing selection of watches of various styles and price ranges. The atmosphere is warm and comfortable. You will be treated like a friend and they will happily answer all your questions. They would spend the time to let you try on every watch in the place if you wanted. It’s the kind of place you feel good supporting and giving your money to when your on the market for a watch. they have moved from the address Unilocal lists, here is their current address
LINCOLN BETWEEN OCEAN AND 7TH AVENUES, CARMEL, CA 93 921