For some, this edition of the fair of fairs has been a bit boring. To point out three keys,Baselword 2016 had news, yes - but few -, many cautious steps and little buyer joyby the true recipients of so much pageantry: the dealers, responsible, in some way, for feeding this enormous machine.
At least until very recently, because the organizers of the fair (theMCH group) They realized a long time ago that the press, as a speaker of what happens there, was a target to be pampered and the treatment they give to the keyboard collective in each of the latest editions is beginning to be legendary.
An example of this is that at 12:01 on opening day the networks are already buzzing with fresh information... You have been able to see this in the RE profiles. In cold numbers and according to the organization, this year the number of visitors has fallen by 3% while the number of accredited journalists has grown by 2.3%. Let's go, therefore, with our long-awaited Baselworld 2016 post chronicle. News and much more.
What has been seen here? Broadly speaking, it would seem that the price rally has peaked, that the connected watch is a reality that no one (except, it seems, theSwatch Group) can ignore and that it is preferable to bet on what is known – and certain – rather than on experiments with uncertain results.
And if there is a master mark in making it seem that everything remains the same without it being so, it is Rolex. Apparently it has “only” added the ceramic bezel to the Daytona (something long awaited and practically taken for granted, although with Rolex you never know) but, by the way, and as if it were not wanted, makes it official that it will apply its own chronometry certificate beyond the C.O.S.C. to all its production, symbolized by the green sealing wax that some of its new models produced during 2015 already wore.
Another that has been talked about is TAG-Heuer, led by that marketing genius called Jean-Claude Biver, the man who does not sleep (he calls his work meetings for five in the morning, with all attendees already having breakfast).
The brand formerly known as Heuer has taken a step aside and recovered something that it had despised when it set out on its path to the stars a few years ago: the youth segment of quartz watches under €1,000.
Not only this: he has had the “effrontery” to present atourbillonbelow €15,000, which has provoked the unusual reaction of a patriarch of the industry such as Patek Philippe, who has said – through the mouth of its president Thierry Stern – that with this type of actions TAG-Heuer is ruining the “Swiss” brand. Paradoxes of life, Biver collects Pateks.
In fact, the former CEO of TAG-Heuer is feeling like a fish in water in his (no longer so) new destination, Bulgari. Jean Christophe Babin made a splash last year with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, and this year he hits the nail on the head with an equally slim Octo Finissimo minute repeater in… Titanium.
A marvel of thinness and a challenge to achieve a minimally audible sound in such a small box, but for that it has theknow-howof the acquired Daniel Roth. Surely he spends his time like a child in a toy store, but he does not forget the essence of the brand and is capable of combining fine watchmaking with fine jewelry. A joy.
Having Tissot as the supposed spearhead to be fully in the field ofsmartwatchesBefore anyone else, it would seem that the Swatch Group lives with its back to reality. Something that, if you don't wake up, is going to give you more than one displeasure. Instead, he bets on his crazy career in pursuit of Rolex (entrusted to Omega, what a fool's errand) and doing a mega-media campaign with the System 51. Return to the origins, when the humble Swatch laid the foundations of what was going to save the Swiss watch industry? In view of how their sales have been developing, it does not seem like the most appropriate strategy... Maybe there is only one Nicholas G. Hayek and I found you in the cradle.
One who has done his homework is Frederique Constant.Last year it already presented its pseudo-smart watch which it called “horological smartwatch” (and which is basically a collector of vital signs that it transmits to the phone). Although it is asmartwatchlimited in functions it has at least the honor of having been the first (and for now the only one) to have real hands instead of virtual ones. Its CEO, Peter Stas, already said it: “we come to replace quartz watches that only tell the time.” But that was last year. In 2016 they have dealt another blow to the table (Monsieur Stern is going to get something) taking outa perpetual calendar… Below 9,000 Swiss francs, which in practice will give the same price in euros. And own manufacturing, developed in-house. And I'm sure they make money with it... Definitely, something is changing in the industry.
For the rest, a lot of using old catalogues, reissues or directly replicas (be careful, the legitimate ones, those made by a brand from its own old models) or squeezing hits until exhaustion. From Omega and the umpteenth edition of the Speedmaster to Zenith (by the way, they are having a hard time) with the “reloaded” Primero. But there are also those who go to their own ball (which is what it is about): with the purchase of part of Vaucher and the launch of the Slim series,Hermès is carving out a position in the world of watches(it has fourteen product lines and stands out in all of them). And some – surprising – first-hand news: in Spain it sold more than a million euros, with double-digit growth. Oris, which is doing things very well, is going against the current and shows a certain tendency to increase prices mainly due to the new strategy of incorporating in-house calibers (the caliber 112 is the third in the 11X saga started two years ago). It seems like a good justification considering that these manufactured watches cost around 5,000 euros. Another song would be thediverswith Sellita inside, above €2,500
Tudor continues in the successful line of recovering practically its entire catalog prior to 1970after trying to set its own profile with what were commercial disasters from 2010-2012 (Hydronauts and company). This time with a bronze version of the Black Bay that responds more to the bronze fashion, so in vogue today, than to a real model. Or the black PVD version accompanied by a matching bracelet. Speaking of versions, I liked the new 36mm version that is reminiscent of Rolex's Explorer 114270. The bad news is that the person who I believe is responsible for this new golden era, Davide Cerrato, was recently hired by the competition and now works at Montblanc.
We are left with the independents, those free brands that do what they think is appropriate at all times without being influenced by group strategies...EjemLet us remember that Rolex is one of them. But also Nomos, Sinn, the aforementioned Oris and the myriad of small brands that populate (and how) the so-called Palace and that those who have ever been know that it is a tent that looks like a country wedding. They are not necessarily very expensive, and Nomos is good proof of this: “strictu sensu” manufacturing at prices below €3,000. Their Neomatik with the DUW 3001 caliber are taking off in such a way that they provide delivery times of over six months. Sinn, and Tutima, trying to recover the Saxon identity so characteristic of Glashütte watches, have presented two dress watches with names as sonorous as “Patria” or “Meisterbund”, the latter limited to 55 pieces to celebrate precisely Sinn's 55 years.
The British from Bremont also make their homeland with beautiful tributes to the Jaguar E Type reproducing their counters (more successfully than Chopard with their MilleMiglia from last year, in my opinion). Another British man with a sonorous name although I don't know if he is as independent, Peter Speake-Marin, left me with a bittersweet taste when he confessed that he orders his watches (even the super-complicated double tourbillon) from an external workshop and that he monitors the process until things turn out the way he wants. He assembles Vaucher machines (like Hermès and Parmigiani) in – yes – his very personal Piccadilly boxes. Maybe I'm getting picky.
The Japanese are missing (to take into account the Casio smartwatch, which is going to rock it as soon as it appears here) and many greats like Chopard or Breitling, which now that it believes it has dominated the world of sports is aiming more towards Lifestyle, and has presented a limited edition of one hundred pieces at the modest price of €37,000. And so many other brands. Of course, not all of them are there, but an article like this would be arrogant (or too long!) if it tried to cover them all. Let's see if I have time to write about them before the next fair.
Best watch strap | Best annual calendar watch | Best watch winder | Best Black Luxury watch | Best Luxury Watches Men | Best Swiss Luxury Watches Women | Best Men Diamond Watches under 1000 | Best Diamond Watches Women | Best Luxury Dive Watch
