{"id":1665,"date":"2026-10-03T16:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T14:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/?page_id=1665"},"modified":"2026-10-30T00:58:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T23:58:47","slug":"privacy-policy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/privacy-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Privacy Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\" id=\"wpb-content-root\"><p>[vc_section full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221;][vc_row gap=&#8221;0px&#8221; el_class=&#8221;impressun_hero_row&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h1>Privacy Policy<\/h1>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Last updated: 30.10.2026 \u00b7 Version 1.0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We take the protection of your personal data seriously. This policy explains which data we process when you visit our online shop, buy from us or contact us, why we do so, to whom we disclose data and what rights you have.<\/p>\n<p>We comply with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP). If you live in the European Union or the European Economic Area and we offer you goods, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies in addition; the information it requires is also included here.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>1. Controller<\/h2>\n<p>WATCHMASTER (Schweiz) AG<br \/>M\u00fcnchwilerstrasse 1<br \/>9546 Tuttwil<br \/>Switzerland<\/p>\n<p>Email: <a href=\"mailto:contact@watchmaster.com\">contact@watchmaster.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For any questions about data protection and to exercise your rights, the easiest way is to write to this address.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>2. Which data we process<\/h2>\n<p>Depending on how you use our shop, we process:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Data when you visit the website:<\/strong> IP address, date and time, the page requested, the page you came from, and information about your browser and device. From this we compile our own visitor statistics without cookies (section 5a).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Order data:<\/strong> first and last name, billing and delivery address, email address, telephone number (optional), the watch ordered, price, chosen payment method, your notes on the order, and the IP address and browser identifier with which the order was placed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Payment data:<\/strong> you enter card details directly with our payment provider Stripe; they never reach our server. We only receive the payment confirmation and identifiers of the transaction.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communication data:<\/strong> content and time of your emails or calls and our replies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Details from a request to sell your watch:<\/strong> if you offer us your watch for purchase (section 11).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Consents:<\/strong> your choice in the cookie banner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our shop does not offer customer accounts; you order as a guest.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>3. Purposes and legal bases<\/h2>\n<table class=\"wm-tabelle\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Purpose<\/th>\n<th>Data<\/th>\n<th>Legal basis under the GDPR (where applicable)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Operation and security of the website, prevention of misuse<\/td>\n<td>data when you visit<\/td>\n<td>legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f))<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Processing your order, payment, delivery, warranty<\/td>\n<td>order and payment data<\/td>\n<td>contract (Art. 6(1)(b))<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Compliance with legal obligations, in particular accounting and tax<\/td>\n<td>order data<\/td>\n<td>legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c))<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Answering your enquiries<\/td>\n<td>communication data<\/td>\n<td>contract or pre-contractual steps (b) or legitimate interest (f)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Assessing your watch and making you a purchase offer<\/td>\n<td>details from the request to sell, photos of the watch<\/td>\n<td>pre-contractual steps (Art. 6(1)(b))<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Showing country-specific content (e.g. instalment payment only in Switzerland)<\/td>\n<td>approximate country derived from the IP address<\/td>\n<td>legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f))<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Storing your cookie choice<\/td>\n<td>consents<\/td>\n<td>legal obligation (c) and legitimate interest (f)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Our own visitor statistics (reach, popularity of watches)<\/td>\n<td>data when you visit, only as a pseudonymous daily hash; then daily totals<\/td>\n<td>legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f))<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Google Analytics<\/td>\n<td>data when you visit, watches viewed, cart and checkout (without amounts)<\/td>\n<td>consent (Art. 6(1)(a))<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cookies that are not strictly necessary<\/td>\n<td>\u2014<\/td>\n<td>consent (Art. 6(1)(a)); only Google Analytics, only with your consent (section 5a)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>We do not use your data for advertising, do not sell it and do not create profiles about you. We currently do not offer a newsletter.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>4. Hosting and server log files<\/h2>\n<p>Our shop is hosted by Hostfactory (OptimaNet Schweiz AG) in a data centre in Switzerland. Hostfactory processes the data on our behalf.<\/p>\n<p>With every request, the web server automatically stores the visit data listed above in log files. We need them to deliver the website, find errors and fend off attacks. The logs are deleted after 5 days. For recovery in an emergency, Hostfactory backs up the website daily; backups are overwritten after 30 days.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>5. Cookies and consent<\/h2>\n<p>Cookies are small files stored by your browser. We only use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to operate the shop:<\/p>\n<table class=\"wm-tabelle\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Name<\/th>\n<th>Provider<\/th>\n<th>Purpose<\/th>\n<th>Duration<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><code>wp_woocommerce_session_\u2026<\/code><\/td>\n<td>us (WooCommerce)<\/td>\n<td>shopping cart and checkout<\/td>\n<td>2 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><code>woocommerce_items_in_cart<\/code>, <code>woocommerce_cart_hash<\/code><\/td>\n<td>us (WooCommerce)<\/td>\n<td>state of the shopping cart<\/td>\n<td>until you close the browser<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><code>wp-wpml_current_language<\/code><\/td>\n<td>us (WPML)<\/td>\n<td>selected language<\/td>\n<td>1 day<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><code>cookieyes-consent<\/code><\/td>\n<td>CookieYes<\/td>\n<td>stores your cookie choice<\/td>\n<td>1 year<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><code>__stripe_mid<\/code>, <code>__stripe_sid<\/code><\/td>\n<td>Stripe<\/td>\n<td>fraud prevention during payment (product page and checkout only)<\/td>\n<td>1 year \/ 30 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><code>_ga<\/code>, <code>_ga_&lt;ID&gt;<\/code><\/td>\n<td>Google (only with &#8220;Analytics&#8221; consent)<\/td>\n<td>Google Analytics: distinguishes visitors and sessions<\/td>\n<td>2 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>In addition, your browser stores locally whether you have dismissed the language notice (90 days) and whether the filters in the watch overview are expanded or collapsed. This information does not leave your device.<\/p>\n<p>Analytics cookies are set only by Google Analytics, and only with your consent (section 5a). We do not use advertising cookies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cookie banner (CookieYes).<\/strong> To manage your consent, we use the CookieYes service of CookieYes Limited, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, as our processor. The banner is loaded from CookieYes with every page; in doing so, CookieYes technically receives your IP address and browser information. When you make a choice, CookieYes logs a random identifier, the country, your choice and the time as proof; it stores the IP address only in pseudonymised form. These records are kept for 5 years. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time via the <strong>&#8220;Cookie settings&#8221;<\/strong> link at the bottom of every page.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>5a. Visitor statistics and Google Analytics<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Our own visitor statistics (without cookies).<\/strong> To know how many visitors come to our shop and which watches attract interest, we count page views ourselves, on our own server at Hostfactory in Switzerland. We do not set any cookies for this and store nothing in your browser. With every page view, the page tells our server what kind of page it is, the language in which it is displayed and \u2014 on a product page \u2014 which watch you are looking at. So that we count each visitor only once per day, our server combines your IP address, your browser&#8217;s identifier and the address of our website with a random key that is valid for that day only and turns them into a pseudonymous string (hash); to protect against misuse (limiting the number of page views per day), it forms a second string in the same way from the IP address alone. We do not store your IP address itself. The strings are kept only until the end of the day; afterwards \u2014 with the first counted page view of the following day, otherwise with the daily run shortly after midnight \u2014 we delete them together with the daily key, and only daily totals remain (page views and visitors per day, per language, per type of page and per watch), which cannot be traced back to you. Backup copies of our database may contain the strings and the daily key of a given day until the backup expires (30 days). We do not count visits by search engines and other programs. We use these figures to improve our shop; the legal basis is our legitimate interest in measuring the reach of our shop (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, where applicable).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Google Analytics \u2014 only with your consent.<\/strong> If you consent to the &#8220;Analytics&#8221; category in the cookie banner, we additionally use Google Analytics 4, a service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, and Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Without your consent, Google Analytics is not loaded and no data is sent to Google. With your consent, Google Analytics sets the cookies <code>_ga<\/code> and <code>_ga_&lt;ID&gt;<\/code> and transmits information about your visit to Google: the pages viewed, information about your browser and device, the approximate country and whether you viewed a watch, added it to the cart or started the checkout \u2014 each with the identifier, name, brand and collection of the watch. We do not report prices, purchases or purchase amounts to Google. We have switched off advertising features and &#8220;Google signals&#8221;. According to Google, data of users in Switzerland and the EU is collected via servers in the EU or Switzerland, and individual IP addresses are neither stored nor logged; however, Google may also process data in the USA. Google LLC is certified under the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. Google processes the data on our behalf. The data is deleted in Google Analytics after 14 months. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, where applicable). You can withdraw it at any time via the <strong>&#8220;Cookie settings&#8221;<\/strong> link at the bottom of every page; Google Analytics will then no longer be loaded. More information: <a href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>6. Orders<\/h2>\n<p>For an order we need the details marked as mandatory; without them we cannot conclude the purchase contract or deliver the watch. The telephone number is optional and helps us with questions about the delivery.<\/p>\n<p>After your order you receive emails about its status. A copy of the order is sent to our mailbox <a href=\"mailto:shop@watchmaster.com\">shop@watchmaster.com<\/a>, which we operate with Hostfactory; the data is stored there in Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>7. Payment<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Credit card (Stripe).<\/strong> Card payments are processed by Stripe Payments Europe, Limited, Dublin, Ireland, together with the affiliated companies of the Stripe group, including Stripe, LLC in the USA. We transmit to Stripe your name, email address, telephone number, billing and delivery address, the amount and the order number. You enter your card details directly with Stripe. On the product page and at checkout, Stripe loads program code into your browser and thereby receives your IP address and information about your device, also to detect fraud. Stripe processes the data partly on our behalf and partly as an independent controller. More information: <a href=\"https:\/\/stripe.com\/ch\/privacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/stripe.com\/ch\/privacy<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Instalment payment (HeyLight, Switzerland only).<\/strong> If you choose instalment payment, we transmit your name, email address, billing address, the items ordered and the amount to HeyLight AG, Seefeldstrasse 18, 8008 Zurich, and you are redirected to HeyLight&#8217;s website. There you conclude the financing agreement directly with HeyLight. HeyLight checks your identity and creditworthiness as an independent controller and informs you about this in its privacy policy: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heylight.com\/ch\/de\/privacy-policy-ch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.heylight.com\/ch\/de\/privacy-policy-ch<\/a>. We only learn whether the payment has been completed.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>8. Delivery<\/h2>\n<p>To deliver the watch, we pass your name, delivery address and, where applicable, your telephone number to the carrier: Swiss Post for deliveries within Switzerland, FedEx for deliveries abroad. For deliveries abroad, the details required for customs clearance go to the customs authorities.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>9. Content by country<\/h2>\n<p>Certain content, such as instalment payment, is only shown in Switzerland. For this we determine your approximate country from your IP address. This happens on our own server using a database from MaxMind; your IP address is not transmitted to MaxMind or any other third party and is not stored for this purpose.<\/p>\n<p>This product includes GeoLite data created by MaxMind, available from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxmind.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.maxmind.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>10. Contact<\/h2>\n<p>If you contact us by email or telephone, we process your details to answer your request. Emails are kept in our mailbox with Hostfactory (see section 6).<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>11. Requests to sell your watch (&#8220;Offer your watch&#8221;)<\/h2>\n<p>If you would like to sell us your watch, you can send us a request using the form on the &#8220;Sell Watch&#8221; page. We then process:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>details of the watch:<\/strong> brand, model, reference number, year, condition, whether the manufacturer&#8217;s certificate and the original box are available, and your remarks,<\/li>\n<li><strong>up to three photos of the watch<\/strong>, if you send any,<\/li>\n<li><strong>your details:<\/strong> first and last name, email address, telephone number (optional) and the region from which you would ship the watch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We use these details only to assess your watch, to make you an offer and to contact you about it. We only need photos of the papers or the serial number once you accept our offer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Photos.<\/strong> We re-encode every photo on receipt and remove all embedded information such as location (GPS), time of capture and camera details. Photos and details are stored on our server at Hostfactory in Switzerland and are not publicly accessible; only logged-in staff with administrative rights for the shop can view them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notification.<\/strong> We receive a short email about a new request at <a href=\"mailto:contact@watchmaster.com\">contact@watchmaster.com<\/a> (Hostfactory, see section 6). It only contains the number of the request, the brand and a link; your details and photos are not included. We do not send you a confirmation email; we contact you personally, and only ever from an @watchmaster.com address.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Protection against misuse.<\/strong> To fend off automated submissions, we briefly count how many requests come from the same IP address. For this we store a value derived from it that cannot be reversed (hash), never the IP address itself. It is valid for one hour and is deleted no later than one day after that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How long.<\/strong> If no purchase takes place, we automatically delete the request including the photos 6 months after receipt; you can also ask us to delete it earlier (section 16). If a purchase or a sale on consignment takes place, we keep the details as part of our business records for 10 years after receipt and then also delete them automatically (section 14). Deleted requests remain in the backups (section 4) until these are overwritten.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>12. Recipients<\/h2>\n<p>We only disclose personal data where this is necessary for the purposes described, namely to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hostfactory (hosting and email, Switzerland),<\/li>\n<li>Stripe (payment, Ireland and USA),<\/li>\n<li>HeyLight (instalment payment, Switzerland),<\/li>\n<li>CookieYes (cookie banner, United Kingdom),<\/li>\n<li>Google (web analytics, only with your consent; Ireland and USA),<\/li>\n<li>Swiss Post (delivery within Switzerland),<\/li>\n<li>FedEx (delivery abroad),<\/li>\n<li>authorities, where we are legally obliged to do so.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>13. Disclosure abroad<\/h2>\n<p>Some recipients process data outside Switzerland:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>EU (Ireland) and United Kingdom:<\/strong> the Swiss Federal Council has found that these countries provide adequate data protection.<\/li>\n<li><strong>USA:<\/strong> Stripe, LLC is certified under the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; Stripe additionally uses the European Commission&#8217;s standard contractual clauses as recognised by the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC). Google LLC is also certified under the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (Google Analytics only, only with your consent). FedEx may also process shipment data in the USA and, according to its own information, relies on standard contractual clauses for this.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>14. How long we keep data<\/h2>\n<p>We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purpose or as required by law:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>order and accounting data: 10 years after the end of the financial year (statutory retention obligation),<\/li>\n<li>requests to sell a watch: without a purchase 6 months after receipt, with a purchase or sale on consignment 10 years after receipt, in each case including the photos,<\/li>\n<li>emails: 10 years,<\/li>\n<li>server log files: 5 days,<\/li>\n<li>backups: 30 days,<\/li>\n<li>records of cookie consent: 5 years,<\/li>\n<li>our own visitor statistics: the pseudonymous daily hashes until the end of the day (in database backups up to 30 days), the daily totals without any personal reference indefinitely,<\/li>\n<li>Google Analytics: 14 months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>15. Data security<\/h2>\n<p>We protect your data with technical and organisational measures: encrypted transmission (HTTPS), hosting in Switzerland, access only for those who need it for their work, payment data only with the payment provider, and photos from requests to sell without embedded location data and not publicly stored.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>16. Your rights<\/h2>\n<p>You can at any time:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>request <strong>access<\/strong> to whether and which data we process about you,<\/li>\n<li>have incorrect data <strong>corrected<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<li>request the <strong>erasure<\/strong> of your data, unless a retention obligation applies,<\/li>\n<li><strong>object<\/strong> to the processing,<\/li>\n<li>request the <strong>release<\/strong> of your data in a common electronic format,<\/li>\n<li><strong>withdraw<\/strong> any consent given, with effect for the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you live in the EU or the EEA, you can also request the <strong>restriction<\/strong> of processing.<\/p>\n<p>To do so, write to us at <a href=\"mailto:contact@watchmaster.com\">contact@watchmaster.com<\/a>. We usually reply within 30 days and free of charge; to prevent misuse, we may ask for proof of your identity.<\/p>\n<p>You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: in Switzerland with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), in the EU with the supervisory authority of your place of residence.<\/p>\n<p>We do not make automated individual decisions. HeyLight informs you about any automated check in connection with instalment payment (section 7).<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2>17. Changes<\/h2>\n<p>We update this policy when our shop or the legal situation changes. The version published here applies. This policy is also available in German; in case of discrepancies, the German version prevails.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_section full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221;][vc_row gap=&#8221;0px&#8221; el_class=&#8221;impressun_hero_row&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text] Privacy Policy [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Last updated: 30.10.2026 \u00b7 Version 1.0 We take the protection of your personal data seriously. This policy explains which data we process when you visit our online shop, buy from us or contact us, why we do so, to whom we disclose data and what rights you have.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/privacy-policy\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Privacy Policy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1665","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1665"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3160,"href":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1665\/revisions\/3160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watchmaster.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}