In 2021, the Watches & Wonders exhibition, which the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) traditionally held in Geneva, Switzerland, partially went online. From 7 to 13 April, in the first week of the event, 38 companies showed new watch models not in a physical exhibition space, but in a digital one – on the watchesandwonders.com platform. The content was varied and interactive: more than 500 press conferences, a daily “morning show” live, six panel discussions with experts, talk shows, webinars – and, of course, presentations of new models.
However, from April 14 to 18, half of the companies participating in the online part of the exhibition will nevertheless gather in person, but not in Geneva, but in Shanghai, at the West Bund Art Center exhibition complex. There, brands will finally be able to present new items live in an almost familiar format (“almost”, since it will be possible to get to the five-day exhibition only at the invitation of the organizers). According to the head of FHH Emmanuel Perrin, China has become the only suitable location for the exhibition – only there it is now possible to organize an event without risking that it will be canceled at the last moment.
The Watches & Wonders online format is unusual for most exhibitors. As noted by Reuters, manufacturers of prestigious Swiss watches – such as Patek Philippe and Rolex – are far from e-commerce and still rely heavily on traditional store sales. Thierry Stern, head of Patek Philippe (the brand also participates in Watches & Wonders), stubbornly believes that the digital space is not suitable for selling luxury watches. “People don’t want to buy Patek online. Watches are expensive, and so their beauty and magic are lost, ”Stern muses. Hermes has a different opinion: the brand has been selling luxury goods, including watches, online for almost 20 years. Guillaume de Seyne, executive vice president of Hermès, said that due in part to this practice, the watch division of the brand performed better last year than in the sector as a whole. The future will show which of the two – Stern or de Sein – better feels the modern buyer, but so far, according to the analyst of the Swiss financial company Vontobel Rene Weber, only about 2% of Swiss watches are sold online. Other experts estimate the share of Internet sales at 7-9%, according to Reuters.
One way or another, manufacturers of expensive watches have already had to adapt to the new conditions dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, many offline stores were temporarily closed, and Watches & Wonders, along with Baselworld (two of the world’s largest annual jewelry and watch shows), were canceled. To revive sales this year, the organizers of Watches & Wonders, which Perrin calls “fashion week in the world of branded watches,” decided to try a new format for themselves (the same fate befell, however, the shows of collections of many fashion houses). Moreover, it is still possible to sell luxury on the Internet, despite the concerns of manufacturers. If anything, platforms for reselling used watches like WatchBox or Watchfinder are doing well. WatchBox CEO Justin Rice estimates the market for used Swiss watches at $ 16 billion and is growing at 25% per year.
Not as usual
Watches & Wonders took place offline from 1990 to 2020 under the name Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (International Salon of Fine Watchmaking, SIHH). The current show is described as “the largest watch event ever held online.” And this “salon” was not only the first for Perrin in the role of head of FHH (he took over in July 2020), but, in his words, the most saturated in its composition in its history. According to the Financial Times (FT), the current number of Watches & Wonders exhibitors is twice the number of brands that were going to present new products at a non-exhibited exhibition in 2020, and slightly exceeds the level of 2019 (then 35 companies participated). Some significant players, including, for example, the same Rolex and Patek Philippe, as well as Chanel, Chopard, Tudor, LMVH brands (Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Zenith and Hublot) and Richemont brands (Cartier and IWC), have moved to Watches & Wonders from a competitor – the world’s oldest watch exhibition Baselworld (by the way, they plan to hold it in a traditional format this summer, but under a different name – HourUniverse).
Brands had several months to prepare for online presentations – the decision to go online was made only in November last year, Perrin told FT in an interview. The head of FHH was so pleased with the result that he plans to combine online and offline exhibition formats in the future. “We realized that much more can be done remotely than we thought was possible,” the organizer told FT.
Hourly wonders
As for the trends, the coronavirus had no effect on them. Yes, and could not – many new Watches & Wonders 2021 were in development long before the pandemic. But this has not lost its relevance and brightness.
In particular, for the seventh year in a row (but for the first time at Watches & Wonders) Bulgari brand sets a record by presenting the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar watch, the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, this time with a case thickness of only 5.8 mm, and the BVL 305 movement – and even 2.75 mm (it consists of 408 parts). The perpetual calendar Octo Finissimo will require manual adjustments only in 2100. Due to the complex design of watches, no more than 50 pieces will be produced per year.
Another striking novelty is the Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem watch for 400,000 pounds ($ 549,000). The model is decorated with a skull and a snake, which, at the command of the owner, come to life for 16 seconds: the snake shows the time with the movements of its tail and head, and the skull lowers its lower jaw, revealing the words carpe diem (lat. “Seize the moment”).
Vacheron Constantin has introduced three Historiques American 1921 models, a 100-year-old version of one of its iconic models. According to rumors, the model was originally intended for drivers: thanks to the angled dial, it is convenient to check the time without taking your hands off the steering wheel.
Despite fears that the pandemic will prevent brands from developing full-fledged collections of new models, Hermes presented this on the opening day of Watches & Wonders. The Hermes H08 collection is called: “0 – nothing, 8 – infinity”, – explains the name of the head of the Hermes watch division Laurent Dordet. The brand describes the line of three men’s models as “sporty in spirit, but not necessarily in functionality.” In addition to the H08, Hermes also demonstrated the Arceau Pocket Aaaaargh pocket watch! with a Tyrannosaurus head on the lid is a new take on the Arceau model, developed in 1978.
Chanel unveiled a four-piece J12 capsule collection inspired by the electronic music culture of the 1990s. Oris has painted the dials of the Cotton Candy collection in pastel colors, while Piaget has added stones in all colors of the rainbow to the famous Limelight Gala cocktail. TAG Heuer has renewed its Aquaracer sports watch collection. Jaeger-LeCoultre showcased a € 1.35 million Quadriptyque with four separate functional dials (the world’s first such watch), a perpetual calendar, lunar cycle information and forecasts of supermoons and eclipses. It took over six years to develop the model. Only 10 of these will be produced.
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