Watches and Wonders Geneva all the time makes me suppose how fortunate the Swiss are to have a veritable legion of tourism officers within the type of watch lovers. I’m speaking about people like us at World of Watches (WOW) Singapore and LUXUO, but in addition you, expensive reader. This has been true since manner again earlier than there was such a factor as this explicit honest in Geneva. To be honest (no pun supposed), there’s something magical and mysterious about Swiss time, and the reply all the time appears to be simply past the closely protected doorways of the worldwide watch honest held now in Geneva.

It now appears sure that Watches and Wonders Geneva has taken the place of BaselWorld as the primary worldwide watch honest and can solely get larger because the years march on. Already, there are a number of showcases taking place across the metropolis throughout what’s being hailed as Geneva Watch Week, unofficially. On the identical time, Geneva Watch Days remains to be scheduled to run later this 12 months — the town has emerged as the right worldwide capital of watchmaking. For these of you who know something about Geneva’s current standing and its historical past, this may solely appear becoming.

Identical to final 12 months, WOW Singapore was absolutely sponsored by all taking part manufacturers exhibiting at Watches and Wonders Geneva — although there aren’t any particular protection payback tales. Usually talking, as a watch specialist journal, nothing will get us psyched up like a watch honest, so we’re solely too pleased to cowl Watches and Wonders Geneva. In truth, we now have been doing simply that on-line for the reason that honest began and have not likely stopped. This story can also be one among a number of in our summer time difficulty overlaying the watch novelty exhibition in addition to the novelty debutants themselves.

Fighting Time

This explicit story is a primer for many who need some info and figures concerning the Geneva honest and the opposite exhibits on the town. It additionally covers some fundamental info that we realise is sorely missing, contemplating a number of the nonsensical protection on YouTube and social media. Provided that our group was on the bottom and doing our personal stuff, we realise that watch gala’s do appeal to new folks too, a few of whom might not have the slightest thought of the way it all works. For all of you, let me say this: the scrum to get into the exhibition space is just not regular, however discovering a technique to eat lunch with out stressing out is. That battle could be very actual.

As for the safety measures which brought about airport-gate fashion snaking traces, these have all the time been a function of the watch honest held on the PalExpo. Within the days of the Salon Worldwide de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH, a reputation we are going to come again to), the metallic detectors have been very a lot customary. Additional, nobody had ever requested if we have been bringing liquids into the exhibition space. This was new and completely egregious. The Asian contingent wants its cup noodles, and a thermos with scorching water is de rigueur. It’s merely unimaginable to search out scorching water exterior of the employees canteen.

Talking of scorching water, with regards to social media, there have been greater than 1.8 million posts mentioning #watchesandwonders which reached an estimated 600 million folks (supply: WWG 2023). This quantity, launched April 3, has probably grown considerably and doesn’t embody the amount of fabric on YouTube or TikTok. For some motive, Watches and Wonders privileges Instagram unfairly, as evidenced by the utilization of the hashtag as definitive of social media.

Typical Pondering

Taking a look at official attendance and participation by watchmaking manufacturers, the improved efficiency of the Geneva honest over final 12 months’s version is apparent. Alternatively, it ought to be remembered that BaselWorld drew one thing like 3 times the general attendance and hosted nearly each model, from the smallest to the most important. Simply as BaselWorld didn’t function Richemont manufacturers, Watches and Wonders Geneva has a Swatch Group-shaped gap in its checklist of manufacturers. The Swiss press didn’t miss the prospect to comment on this and we too miss the presence of a very powerful Swiss watchmaking group which doesn’t present at any sort of international honest. It’s our understanding that the Group’s administration has no plans to vary the established order, however we urge them to rethink. Watches and Wonders president Jean-Frederic Dufour, who can also be Rolex’s CEO, publicly prolonged an invite to Swatch Group by way of Le Temps, so we are going to see how that goes.

Watches and Wonders Geneva can also be lacking the likes of Citizen (although Citizen-owned Frederique Fixed did debut this 12 months ), the Seiko Watch Company (Grand Seiko nevertheless confirmed as much as the celebration after its debut final 12 months) and Casio. On that be aware, the German and French pavilions are totally absent too, although this simply underscores the purpose that Watches and Wonders Geneva is just not BaselWorld 2.0. It’s actually extra inclusive than the previous SIHH, with manufacturers equivalent to U-Boat and Charriol additionally discovering areas for themselves. If the primary stage of the Geneva honest goes to soak up extra such manufacturers, it could be higher to open extra halls and think about permitting these manufacturers to create their very own stands. This was BaselWorld’s resolution to maintain from trying like a conference, which it undeniably is.

Regardless, Watches and Wonders Geneva remains to be a conference the place folks come for work and to do enterprise. It’d appear to be a luxurious mall of some kind, however it’s positively not. To be clear, which means retailers are right here to purchase watches – this can be a simplification however it should do – and press are right here to search out tales. In case you are not with the manufacturers, then you might be right here to satisfy with both the model’s industrial group or the advertising and communications group. Completely nobody is right here to fall in lust with a watch in a show case, after which attempt to get worth on simply that one watch to put on it strolling across the PalExpo. At this watchmaker’s market, nobody is promoting direct-to-consumer.

Perpetually Topped

However sufficient about our personal gripes about what the honest is or not, save for only one extra — and solely as a result of we wish to convey our protection of the honest throughout LUXUO and social media collectively. Watches and Wonders Geneva doesn’t give out “best-in-show” awards — it isn’t that sort of occasion both. It falls to trade observers and journalists to make such pronouncements. Right here is our take: Rolex has received the annual watch honest, if such a factor is feasible, and reminded us why it deserves its crown. We started our watch honest protection with Rolex on-line, the place the joy over what the model will do in 2023 was palpable.

As Watches and Wonders Geneva acquired underway, the large information was that titanium is lastly a part of the usual assortment as foreshadowed by the Deepsea mannequin final 12 months. This 12 months, the Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Grasp 42 acquired the RLX titanium remedy which was one more signal that titanium was lastly taking centre stage at Rolex. After everybody acquired accomplished patting themselves on the again — a few of it’s essential to have damage yourselves (you understand who you might be) — even essentially the most blinkered of observers realised that this was not the story.

The actual information was on the traditional facet of issues — the dressier little bit of the Rolex story. In case you could have been dwelling in a time-free zone or a black gap, right here is the deal: it appears the Cellini assortment has been reworked into one thing fairly totally different, referred to as the Perpetual 1908. We initially thought this was only one watch that may add extra flavour, however a fast scan of the Rolex web site confirmed that the Cellini fashions of latest instances have been nowhere to be discovered. One may suppose this a storm in a teacup, however this new assortment arrives with a full set of fabric variants and exhibition casebacks (which showcase calibres with Syloxi hairsprings). The exhibition caseback on the Cosmograph Daytona actually broke the Web, however solely time will inform if the Perpetual 1908 can turn into an actual star.

Certainly, there are tonnes of little developments and main ones at that for the world’s most vital luxurious watch model and this isn’t the story to get into all of it. Effectively, one thing to sit up for then, however do be aware right here that the calibre 7140 powering the Perpetual 1908 is totally new and options the primary use of each the Syloxi hairspring and the Chronergy escapement.

Monitoring Elapsed Time

On the technical entrance, there was some disappointment this 12 months with a perceived lack of horological substance. There have been few new grand issues to talk of, if any. The phrase earlier than the honest was that teams are involved about financial contagion spreading and have been making ready for the worst. The closest we acquired to grand issues was new variants of the Patek Philippe Grand Grasp Chime (Ref. 6300) and an idea watch from Roger Dubuis, the Monovortex Break up-Seconds Chronograph, which the model is just not promoting; that is the one true idea watch at Watches and Wonders Geneva which is sort of one thing. Even Van Cleef & Arpels will likely be promoting its automatons (they’re all bought as we’re reliably if not formally knowledgeable). We’ll come again to the Roger Dubuis piece on the finish, however for now it serves as a pleasant lead-in to a hard-to-miss pattern: the dominance of the chronograph.

The chronograph complication acquired a variety of consideration this 12 months, with loads of attention-grabbing examples together with the next: the primary new formed variant showing at Jaeger-LeCoultre since 1996 and now the one such watch from any main model on this planet; the Odysseus Break up Seconds Chronograph redefining the person expertise and the show; the Montblanc 1858 Unveiled Timekeeper Minerva Restricted Version additionally taking part in with person expertise; and the Zenith Pilot Flyback Chronograph Huge Date for which the person expertise is as soon as once more paramount. The chronograph was additionally in focus at Hermes Horloger in addition to on the independents, with Gronefeld’s splendidly named Gronograaf being a standout. We will virtually hear you groan out loud at how this watch debuted final 12 months and received the Chronograph prize on the GPHG.

For this overview, we wished to supply what quantities to a teaser on a major new improvement at Grand Seiko, the place one more chronograph was on the up. Helpfully named the Tentagraph, the watch is in fact identified by its reference quantity, SLGC001, as is regular for Grand Seiko. It’s recognisable by its tri-compax structure, fairly customary for this type of complication. In all different methods, the Tentagraph is totally totally different, being one among solely a handful of chronographs on this planet regulated by one thing aside from the Swiss lever escapement. Right here, it’s the twin impulse escapement you may recall from a few years in the past and most notably in calibre 9SA5, which is now carried out within the chronograph calibre 9SC5. We perceive that this can be a chronograph module added to 9SA5. The Tentagraph is definitely the primary chronograph from Grand Seiko and is really a powerful begin.

Incremental Advances

Whereas it isn’t a chronograph in any manner, the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante additionally makes a present of doing one thing no watch has ever accomplished. Patek Philippe additionally chimes in withan unusually offbeat Ref. 5224. In truth, this may need actually been the honest of idiosyncrasy, given the tide of very odd watches that succeeded in stunning everybody. To checklist them, these are in fact the Puzzle and Bubble watches from Rolex; the Oris ProPilot X “Kermit”; the Ulysse Nardin Freak One; the Chanel Lion Astro Clock (Chanel by no means fails to convey the quirk, so this is only one of them); and the Hublot Huge Bang Built-in Tourbillon Full Blue Sapphire which nonetheless has a tough time escaping the shadow of the just lately launched Neon Yellow SAXEM Huge Bang and the persevering with Murakami collaboration.

Hublot introduced a brand new watch to the celebration that we’re reserving area for right here, the MP-13. The bi-axis tourbillon with double retrograde time show appears prefer it was all the time a part of the Hublot catalogue regardless of being completely new. The mixture of the multi-axis tourbillon and retrograde motion is a primary in watchmaking, and the case is definitely new right here too (though it would put in thoughts the visage of earlier MP fashions). Whereas we are going to get into the main points of the MP-13 in one other story, it’s suffice to say that this watch spoke loudest to tremendous watchmaking’s new emphasis on fit-and-feel, which is a little bit of an obsession at WOW. If there’s one factor you may recall concerning the MP collection, it’s that the circumstances defy easy explanations and are sometimes difficult on most wrists. This one is an enchancment, whereas nonetheless providing a variety of allure and horological leisure worth each.

Sadly, there was little else in the way in which of enjoyable with time at Watches and Wonders 2023, with even the LAB exhibition being largely a showcase for the hits (and a repeat of final 12 months’s highlights, which we perceive given how a lot larger the viewers is that this 12 months). It’s a minor criticism however nonetheless, having a robotic canine steal the present as a result of the watchmaking innovation is a rehash of final 12 months’s is just not nice. Maybe by chance, it additionally revealed that conventional watchmaking advances incrementally, not by nice leaps ahead. That’s in fact for the very best. For an instance of such a terrific leap, look no additional than quartz within the Nineteen Seventies.

This brings us to the ultimate level, the place that Roger Dubuis idea watch comes again to serenade us on our manner out. Watchmaking manufacturers promote goals about what it means to grasp your individual time, whether or not that’s within the type of time-only watches constructed principally by hand as Ferdinand Berthoud does, or of “hyper horology” as Roger Dubuis does. Many of the substance is between these extremes, however this could not obscure the truth that it’s all nonetheless about goals. We’d like excessive ends to make highly effective statements. In any other case, essentially the most thrilling thought about time is one which has to do with greenback indicators. To place it one other manner, your wine fridge, shelf or cellar solely actually pays for itself in case you suppose wine is a tasty beverage. If it’s only about worth, then style is irrelevant, and that may be a disgrace for each winemakers and wine lovers alike.

Great Outcomes

Watches and Wonders Geneva is now more likely to be the most important watch honest on this planet, if the numbers launched by the organisers are something to go by. By way of materials area, the organisers mentioned nothing and a lot of the stories don’t give attention to this. For some context, it’s in all probability the scale of Corridor One at BaselWorld, and twice the scale of the previous SIHH on the PalExpo (estimates are our personal so ship brickbats my manner please). There are 48 taking part manufacturers at Watches and Wonders Geneva this 12 months, up from 35 final 12 months by our depend with supposedly 10 new manufacturers in 2023 and a pair having dropped out.

Held over the course of seven days, the honest attracted 43,000 guests (an enchancment over the 22,000 in 2022), together with 5,400 retailers and 1,400 journalists. These enterprise guests have been joined over the weekend by 12,000 ticket-holders (these have been bought at CHF70), which is spectacular in a metropolis that generally feels a bit of ambivalent concerning the watchmaking festivities happening inside its area. Watches and Wonders says that 25% of the tickets bought went to folks beneath 25, with ticket-holder ages averaging out at a really hip 35. Provided that watchmaking has been making an enormous deal of chatting with new generations, that is vital and can go an extended technique to confirming that Watches and Wonders Geneva is heading in the right direction. For some context, BaselWorld was criticised for being out-of-touch with the younger whereas the SIHH was just for insiders who tended to be a lot older.

In a attainable preview of future occasions, the motion prolonged from the PalExpo, which is subsequent to the airport, to the town correct. There have been actions organised at boutiques and different centrally positioned areas that have been a part of the official agenda for Watches and Wonders Geneva. To be clear, these didn’t embody the adjoining showcases by particular person manufacturers, nor different exhibitions that have been half of what’s now generally known as Geneva Watch Week.

For the broader world, the honest organisers mentioned that protection of Watches and Wonders Geneva reached greater than 600 million, which is roughly double what it achieved final 12 months. It ought to be famous right here that 2,600 journalists have been tuning into the motion on the official digital platform which undoubtedly helps in rising the attain of the unique occasion. 

This text was initially revealed in print in World Of Watches‘ 2023 Summer season particular, difficulty #69.

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