TERMS OF PRE-ORDER

1.1 Gerald Charles SA – with registered office in Lugano, via Nassa 62, registered in the Swiss companies register, CHE-431.656.687, (“Gerald Charles” or the “Company”) – showcases on the e-commerce website www.geraldcharles.com (the “Website”) Gerald Charles branded luxury wristwatches part of collections available in limited quantities for pre-order (the “Products”).

1.2 Once a product of interest has been identified on the Website, the customer (identified as a consumer under the applicable consumer legislation, the “Customer”) may preview and pre-order such Product, reserving the right to purchase it as soon as it becomes available, upon payment of a pre-order fee (as better described below), (the “Pre-order”). Pre-ordering consists, therefore, in the service of booking the purchase of products that are not yet available in stock and/or in Gerald Charles boutiques.

1.3 The pre-order of Products through the Website is strictly reserved to individuals who: (i) have legal capacity and have reached their legal age in their country of residence; and (ii) pre-order and purchase the Products for personal use and not for purposes in any way related to their commercial, business, or professional activities. Gerald Charles will not accept and/or process orders from channels other than the Website or from parties lacking the requirements set out in this article. Each Customer may pre-order a maximum number of 3 items of the same color/model for each Product.

2.1 These general terms and conditions (the “Terms of Pre-order”) govern the pre-order of the Products via the Website. The Terms of Pre-order do not cover the Products’ purchase nor the provision of services or the sale of products by parties other than Gerald Charles, even if they are featured on the Website through links, or banners. Regarding the final purchases of the Products via the Website, please refer to the general terms and conditions of sale available here.

2.2 The Customer shall read carefully and accept (by clicking on the flag displayed on the “add to cart” page of the Website) these Terms of Pre-order. By accepting the Terms of Pre-order, the Customer undertakes to comply with the terms and conditions set forth herein. In case of non-acceptance of the Terms of Pre-order, the Customer will not be able to pre-order any Products. Therefore, the Customer is invited to print and save a copy of the Terms of Pre-order for future reference.

2.3 By placing the Pre-order – after accepting the Terms of Pre-order – and clicking on the “pre-order and pay now” button, the Customer expressly acknowledges and accepts the payment obligation of the fee charged for the reservation of Products (the “Pre-order Fee”). Therefore, after placing the Pre-order, the Pre-order Fee will be charged to the Customer through the payment method selected by the Customer.

3.1 To pre-order a Product through the Website, the Customer may create and/or access her/his account through the private area on the Website or proceed with the Pre-order as a guest, without creating an account. In the case of a pre-order in guest mode, the Customer must correctly fill in the fields of the specific form on the Website, entering all the data requested therein (e.g. first name, last name, billing and delivery address, e-mail address and telephone number) necessary to execute the Agreement.

3.2 The Customer can place a Pre-order by duly filling-in the pre-order form made available on the Website and send it in accordance with the indications provided therein, after having carefully reviewed the product specifications, including the relevant price (inclusive of all applicable taxes and charges) and the amount of the Pre-order Fee.

3.3 Placing a Pre-order through the Website by the Customer constitutes acceptance of the offer to the public made by Gerald Charles, and, therefore, receipt of the Pre-order by the Company constitutes the conclusion of a binding agreement with respect to the Products selected by the Customer, which shall be entirely governed by the Terms of Pre-order in force at the time of its conclusion (the “Agreement”). Therefore, before confirming and sending the Pre-order, the Customer must therefore verify the accuracy of the content of the shopping cart, and all data provided are correct (for example the Customer may change the quantity of Products that they intend to pre-order by adding or removing one or more of them from the virtual shopping cart). The Customer will then be asked to select the Preorder Fee payment method, indicate the billing address, select the chosen shipping method, and specify the shipping address if different from the billing address.

3.4 Once the Pre-order and the Pre-order Fee payment have been received, Gerald Chales will send the Customer an e-mail confirming receipt of the order, containing the number and details of the order made, as well as details of the shipping and delivery schedule for the pre-ordered Product (the “Order Confirmation”).

3.5 To the maximum extent permitted by the applicable laws, Gerald Charles reserves the faculty at its own discretion to not process purchases when there are not sufficient guarantees of solvency, when orders are incomplete or incorrect, when the Products are no longer available or in any other case where there are substantial problems with the Order or errors in the presentation of the Product or selection on the Website. The Customer will be informed by e-mail of the order cancellation, with the reasons thereof.

4.1 The description and the essential characteristics of the Products, including details and composition, fit, and colors are presented on the Website within each product sheet together with one or more photographic images in digital format. Although the Company takes measures to ensure that the photographs shown on the Website are faithful reproductions of the products, the images and colors of the products offered for sale on the Website may not be perfectly representative of their real characteristics due to the browser and/or devices used to access the Website. Therefore, Gerald Charles shall not be deemed responsible for any possible inconsistency in the graphic representations of the Products shown on the Website when due to technical reasons.

4.2 Without prejudice to pre-orders already sent and/or Agreements already concluded, Gerald Charles reserves the right to remove any Product from the Website at any time, for commercial reasons relating to the seasonality of the products themselves.

4.3 Gerald Charles constantly monitors and updates the stock availability of the Products displayed on the Website. However, since the Website can be visited by several Customers at the same time, it may happen that several Customers intend to pre-order or pre-order the same Product at the same time. In such cases, the Product may be available for a short period of time, even though it is out of stock or no longer available. Should a Product prove to be unavailable for the above-mentioned reasons or in other cases of unavailability, Gerald Charles will promptly contact the Customer at the contact details provided by the same.

5.1 At the time of placing the Pre-order, the Customer must pay the Pre-order Fee, as consideration for the provision of the reservation and pre-order service. The exact amount of the Pre-order Fee varies from product to product, and it is indicated on each product page.

5.2 Gerald Charles reserves the right to change the amounts of the Pre-order Fees at any time, without prejudice to pre-order already placed and Agreements already executed, to which – except for blatant errors – the Pre-order Fee displayed on the Website at the time of the Pre-order shall apply.

5.3 The payment methods available to the Customer are, depending on the country: (i) credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express); (ii) ShopPay, GooglePay, ApplePay; or (iii) wire transfer.

5.4 The payment service is operated by a third-party payment provider (different depending on the payment method selected by the Customer). During the payment process, additional payment authentication may be required by the card issuer or banking institution (i.a. “Verified by Visa”, “MasterCard Secure Code”). Under no circumstances shall Gerald Charles be held liable for payment errors via the third-party payment service that occur due to a lack of connection or for direct and/or indirect damages that the Customer may suffer for any reason or title whatsoever as a result of and as a consequence of suspensions or interruptions in the operation of the banking institution’s Website (including any cyber-attacks).

5.5 Gerald Charles – via the third-party payment service provider – will carry out a standard preauthorization on the payment method selected by the Customer. If, for any reason (relating, for example, to the inadequacy/insufficiency of the payment details provided by the Customer), it proves impossible to charge the Pre-order Fee, the transaction will be automatically cancelled, and the Preorder will not be sent to the Company. In such cases, due to the non-conclusion of the Agreement, Gerald Charles shall have no delivery obligation towards the Customer, nor shall the Customer be able to claim payment of any indemnity and/or compensation for damages.

5.6 The invoice or, more generally, the tax document relating to the Pre-order of the Products and the payment of the Pre-order Fee will be sent by e-mail to the Customer by Gerald Charles. In case of an order placed from USA or Canada, the invoicing company will be Gerald Charles America INC. Once issued, the invoice/tax document will not be alterable.

6.1 Gerald Charles shall not be liable for any failure or delay in the performance of any of its obligations under the Agreement and/or these Terms of Pre-order caused by events beyond its reasonable control, such as strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action, civil insurrection, invasion, terrorist attack (including threatened), war (whether declared or not) or threat of war, fire, explosion storms, floods, earthquakes, subsidence, epidemics, pandemics or other natural catastrophes, inability to use railways, maritime transport, aircraft, motor transport or other public or private means of transport, inability to use public or private telecommunications networks, acts, decrees, rules, regulations or limitations imposed by governments and/or public authority (“Force Majeure”).

6.2 In case of Force Majeure, the performance of the Agreement by Gerald Charles may be suspended for as long as the Force Majeure event continues. The Company undertakes to inform the Customer of the occurrence of a Force Majeure event without undue delay and in any case within 7 (seven) days from its occurrence.

7.1 As provided by the applicable law, the right of withdrawal from the Pre-order Agreement is excluded and does not apply if the Costumer has expressly accepted the waiver of the right of withdrawal by clicking on the relevant button on the “add to cart” page of the Website. Therefore, in case of acceptance of the waiver of the right of withdrawal by the Customer, the Pre-order Fee will not be refundable in any way by Gerald Charles. This is without prejudice to the Customer’s right of withdrawal from the separate sale agreement of the products.

7.2 Should the Customer not accept the waiver of the right of withdrawal and still place the Pre-order, the Customer may withdraw from the Agreement, without penalty and without having to state a reason, within 14 (fourteen) calendar days, starting from the day of placing the Pre-order (and execution of the Agreement). Once this period has expired, the withdrawal request will no longer be accepted. To exercise the right of withdrawal, within the time limit set out above, the Customer shall contact Gerald Charles by specifying the order number and the e-mail address through which the pre-order was made. The burden of proof concerning the exercise of the right of withdrawal in accordance with this Article shall be on the Customer. The right of withdrawal may only be exercised by the Customer and in no case by the recipient of a gift product. Following checking the eligibility of the request for withdrawal and refund by the Customer, Gerald Charles shall refund the Pre-order Fee received from the Customer, without undue delay and in any event within 14 (fourteen) days from the day the Company is informed of the decision to withdraw from the Agreement. The Customer will receive a full refund of the Pre-order Fee by the same method that was used to make the payment, with different timing depending on the payment method originally selected and the banking institution involved.

8.1 Gerald Charles warrants the authenticity and high quality of all Products offered for sale through the Website. All intellectual property rights (by way of example only, the “Gerald Charles” trademarks) insisting on or relating to the Products and their accessories and packaging are and remain the exclusive property of Gerald Charles.

8.2 The Customer does not acquire any rights to Gerald Charles intellectual property rights by reason of or under the Agreement and/or these Terms of Pre-order. Total or partial reproduction, modification, alteration, or any other use of Gerald Charles’ intellectual property rights without Gerald Charles’ prior written consent is strictly prohibited.

9.1 The Customer’s personal data collected by Gerald Charles in the Pre-order procedure and/or during the performance of the Agreement will only be processed in accordance with Gerald Charles’ privacy policy (hereinafter the “Privacy Policy”) available here.

9.2 As further provided in the Privacy Policy, the Customer’s personal data (including those contained in correspondence with the Company by e-mail or by other instant messaging channels) are processed by Gerald Charles for the period of time strictly necessary to achieve the purposes for which they were collected and stored for the entire duration of the contractual relationship and, upon its termination, for the period of time allowed by the rules on statute of limitations.

10.1 For any needs, the Customer may contact Gerald Charles’ customer service (the “Customer Service”), by contacting the staff at the official phone number +41 (0) 91 682 02 42, on business hours. The 5 Company can be contacted at any time by e-mail by filling in the form available on the Website or by writing to aftersales@geraldcharles.com.

10.2 Gerald Charles shall reply to Customer enquiries as soon as possible, using the contact channel chosen by the Customer or another address indicated by the Customer in the Pre-order. It is understood that correspondence sent by the Customer to other addresses and/or through communication channels not specified in this Article will not be deemed to have been properly received and will not be accepted.

11.1 Gerald Charles reserves the right to periodically review and amend these Terms of Pre-order to reflect changes in market conditions affecting its business, changes in technology, changes in payment methods, changes in relevant regulations and legal requirements, and changes in its system capabilities.

11.2 Each Agreement will be governed by the Terms of Pre-order in force at the time that the parties enter into it. Any changes or updates are duly published on the Website and/or notified to the Customer and will be effective immediately from the date of their publication and/or notification for Pre-orders placed thereafter.

12.1 Failure to exercise or late exercise of a right under the Agreement and/or these Terms of Pre-order does not constitute a waiver thereof.

12.2 Should any of the provisions of these Terms of Pre-order be invalid, ineffective, or unenforceable for any reason, that provision will be considered as severed from these Terms of Pre-order and the remaining provisions contained therein will be perfectly valid and effective and will not be affected by the invalid, ineffective or unenforceable provision.

12.3 The Agreement is binding on both Parties and their respective successors and assigns. Gerald Charles may transfer, assign, sub-contract or otherwise dispose of the Agreement, or any of its rights or obligations under it, at any time during its term, subject to the obligation to ensure an effective level of protection of the Customer’s rights at least equal to that guaranteed under the Agreement. The Customer may not assign the Agreements, unless otherwise required by applicable law

13.1 These Terms of Pre-order and the individual Agreements are governed by and must be construed in accordance with the laws of Switzerland, with the exclusion of international treaties and the conflict of law rules.

13.2 Any disputes arising in connection with these Terms of Pre-order and/or individual Agreements shall be submitted to the territorial jurisdiction of the competent court in the place of the Customer’s residence or domicile. 13.3 Customers residing in a European Union Member State have the possibility to have recourse to the platform established by the European Commission for the settlement of disputes relating to distance selling contracts (“ODR platform”). The Customer and the Company may resolve disputes relating to pre-orders made under these Terms of Pre-order through the ODR Platform with the assistance of an impartial body. The ODR Platform is accessible at the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/main/?event=main.home.show.

Terms of Pre-order updated on September 5, 2024