Whether your Swiss timepiece is a statement accessory—an expensive piece of ticktockery that screams your success to the world—or acquired because you are in love with the high precision, micro-technologies beneath that expensive watch face; whether it is bought as an investment piece or as a once-off, customized piece of art, your watch determines who you are in the world.
The wheel of fortune has turned since the 1970s and 1980s, when the quartz movement nearly saw the demise of the 300-year-old Swiss watchmaking industry. Hand-wound mechanisms are now firmly back in the luxury watch repertoire.
More than 20 million Swiss francs ($21.2 million) were reportedly spent on posh watches in 2012. Not only is a luxury watch a valuable portable asset, which any bank manager would welcome but in today’s market, it has a real resale value.
Every year the competitive watch industry pushes the boundaries of technical function and precision in its iconic brands for the delight of the watch junkie. New refinements include thinner cases containing more parts, increasingly sophisticated complications, such as multi-time zone movements and perpetual calendars, and an increase in the use of Métiers d’Art, using materials like enamel, wood marquetry and gold. There is even a nod to the heritage and legacy of watchmaking—the pocket watch and minute repeaters.
What better showcase for all this than one of Switzerland’s premium watch shows, the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) at the Palexpo in Geneva?
This is the 23rd year that Richemont—founded by South African businessman Johann Rupert—has hosted this by-invitation-only haute horlogerie fair, which attracts more than 12,000 international retailers and brand representatives from the watch fraternity, as well as 1,200 watch journalists.
Despite the Palexpo’s rather unprepossessing, hangar-like appearance, the interior is set up as a series of elegant spaces, with cream walls, butter-colored leather couches and chairs, discreet lighting and chocolate-hued carpets. Entering each booth is like stepping into each brand’s signature boutique, complete with chandeliers.
Perfectly coiffed hostesses greet guests at the entrances as waiters serve food and beverages during the show’s five-day duration.
The dress code is chic business attire during the day for the back-to-back presentations and quiet understatement for the many glitzy parties and dinners. It is important for the brands to show how well they are doing; many vie for the title of best dressed.
Georges Kern—the CEO for three of the big brands at the fair, namely IWC, Baume &amp; Mercier and Roger Dubuis—heads up a marketing campaign that creates the biggest buzz around these brands. In fact, IWC has doubled its production since 2006.
Each year the IWC has a theme, this year it was ‘The Big Race’. To celebrate its completely remodeled 2013 Ingénieur watch collection in partnership with the Mercedes-Benz AMG Petronas Formula One team, the IWC booth was decked out like a testosterone-fuelled Formula One cockpit and attracted non-stop media attention.
The friends of the brand included Kevin Spacey, Victoria’s Secret models Karolina Kurková and Adriana Lima, Formula One driver Nico Rosberg, motorsport engineer Ross Brawn, football’s Rafael Medina, Luis Figo and actors Matthew Fox and Eric Dane, as well as other celebrities from the world of arts and sport.
This year’s ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at the whimsically decorated Roger Dubuis booth, which was dominated by a giant gold-crowned eagle bearing a key in its talons, and populated by medieval knights and a falconer, to honor the Excalibur collection. Extra window dressing was provided by three friends of the brand, Daphne Guinness, Scottish actor Gerard Butler and Tomer Sisley.
Another big buzz this year was the launch of Baume &amp; Mercier’s new Clifton range, named after Cape Town’s beach by the same name—the range is apparently favored by Johann Rupert himself. The collection is expected to do very well, especially in the American and African markets.
Art formed a big part of the fair and Montblanc displayed its Cutting Edge collection, showing interpretations of its iconic star logo. The Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie also exhibited timepieces dating back to the 15th century.
The new IWC Ingénieur watches carried the tagline “engineered for men”, but the big news this year was the lady’s watch. The new diamond clad Piaget Limelight Gala women’s watches were designed for bling bunnies, and the oldest horological house, Vacheron Constantin, brought out a completely new women’s range called the Malte Lady. Cartier also put emphasis on their new Crash watches.
Panerai is truly a collector’s brand because its production is so limited and this year the brand came up with some exciting new timepieces, including the Luminor Amagnetic which resists fields of up to 4,000 side amps per square meter. The P.9000 caliber is encased inside a soft iron cage to protect it from magnetic fields.
Iconic Swiss brand Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrated its 180th birthday in style, with an appearance by Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter Carmen Chaplin who made a short film about time. Her grandfather’s watch, which was presented to him by the people of Switzerland when he sought refuge there in the 1950s, was on display and the brand brought out an entire Jubilee collection.
Asia might be the biggest investor in this market but emerging markets like Africa are beginning to show an interest in prestige timepieces.
South Africa has a small but healthy market for luxury watches and the local jewelry trade was well represented at this year’s fair, from Bellagios in Sandton City, which has a shop-in-shop for Roger Dubuis, to Christopher Greig of Charles Greig Jewelers, Jennifer and David Moss from Picot &amp; Moss, Schwartz Jewelers and Oresti Mavrodaris from Elegance Jewelers. The latest makes and models that they put in orders for at the SIHH will be finding their way onto their clients’ wrists within the next 18 months.

Tag: Ticktockery

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