My impression about himSIHH 2017, the Richemont fair par excellence, is becoming less and less so. The Show, which has just closed its twenty-seventh edition, has included among its exhibitors no less than nineteen brands outside the luxury group. A respectable majority considering that the total number of participants is thirty. The reason? That many of them – and more – had been organizing their own events in Geneva during the dates of the Fair to take advantage of the influx of visitors, and the organization chose to have them nearby. It is already known: “keep your friends close but your enemies closer”… understood here in terms of competition, of course.
2016 has not been a good year for the luxury industry in general and the watch industry in particular, and the bad news is that there have been fifteen months of continuous declines. The positive part of this scenario is that a kind of natural law applies: those who adapt best survive. And adapting involves listening to the market – the clients, in short – and trying to give them what they demand. And although it sounds logical, it is not always like that.
Este SIHH 2017It has brought us several new things. Not so much in the form of new watches – that too – but rather certain changes that have to do with trying to satisfy that market demand. For example, Jaeger LeCoultre has presented three attractive pieces in the Master collection. And they are attractive both in terms of aesthetics and – attention – in price, because for a brand like this, placing three mechanical watches (two of them with complications) below 10,000 euros RRP is a novelty worth mentioning. New Reversos with the usual charm but now with the possibility of customizing them based on a very wide palette of dials and straps. Women's watches, which represent 45% of Jaeger LeCoultre's business, will be treated separately, because they deserve it.
Another surprise has been to see how a jewelry brand like Piaget has “descended” to making steel watches, and has taken advantage of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Altiplano to present them. And the truth is that it is well needed given the delicate situation of the House after the Chinese market – its best client – has fallen sharply due to the new political measures that strictly prohibit “sumptuous gifts”. Whatever the case, welcome the approach to earthly prices from a brand that has a lot to say horologically speaking: its tourbillons, but especially its ultra-thin calibers attest to that.
Who does not seem to suffer the onslaught of crises – periodic or not – is Vacheron Constantin, which continues on the crest of the wave with its successful Overseas, and which has presented the Celestia Grand Complication with no less than 23 complications… and it is a wristwatch! One million two hundred thousand euros are to blame for not being mine. Not content with this, they have also presented (rather exhibited, and with reason, I would say) the Copernicus series, where their “metiers d’art” shine in all their splendor, and the one that for me is the star: The Symphonia Grande Sonnerie 1860, a unique piece in a white gold case and 45mm in diameter whose 745-piece caliber has been scrupulously assembled by hand by a single watchmaker who has invested in it. 500 hours of your life. The price, of course, “on request”.
Another who has no problem selling watches worth almost a million euros is Richard Mille, whose RM 50-03 Tourbillon Split Seconds Chronograph McLaren Edition will be sold exclusively in the brand's boutiques at the fabulous price of 980,000 euros for each of the 75 examples that make up the limited edition. Made of graphene, its mechanism, including the chrono and the tourbillon, weighs only seven grams for a watch that will not exceed 38 grams including the strap... As the English say, “not my cup of tea”: I like a watch to weigh even a little.
Roger Dubuis, eponymous of its creator, is also allied with Formula 1. And it also has limited series, of course. His Excalibur, different variations on the same theme, range from 8 to 88 pieces per series, passing through the 28 that Monsieur Dubuis made famous when he was an independent watchmaker. Apart from their spectacular skeletonizations, this year they have made some straps with rubber from some Pirelli tires that won Formula 1 Grand Prix. Certified. The curious note is given by the feminine Excalibur in titanium and DLC treatment with blue sapphires: 28 pieces at the reasonable price (for what it is RD) of 17,000 Swiss francs. A truly elegant watch with a self-winding mechanical movement. The counterpoint, The Excalibur Spider Pirelli double tourbillon: 8 units at 280,000 francs. Also Swiss. I don't know how much that is in yuan, and in case there was anyone who still didn't know, 8 is the lucky number for the Chinese, who are just now celebrating the entry into the year of the rooster.
And a rooster is precisely what Ulysse Nardin shows on the dial of his Classico, a series limited to... exactly, 88 pieces. An extraordinary work of “champlevé” enamel (which comes from the French “elevated field” although in reality what is done is emptying to fill precisely with enamel). The “grand feu” enamel, to continue with the French, is one of the “metier d’art” that Ulysse Nardin proudly exhibits in this Salon to which I am not sure if he returns or arrives for the first time, what I do know is that I was captivated by this “small seconds” (I go to English, with permission :)) that with a price of 8,800 Swiss francs would even seem affordable among its brand brothers. Additionally, this year Ulysse Nardin has partnered with the Artemis team that will compete in the famous America's Cup regatta, and to this end has created a limited series of 35 pieces that also showcases beautiful enamel work, not to mention the complication of the countdown that, once that time has run out, begins timing the regatta “forward” instantly.
The horological infatuation that one experiences when entering the A. Lange & Söhne stand is instantaneous. Your Tourbograph (from Tourbillon and Chronograph)pour le MeriteIt is quite a declaration of intentions, with a list of complications that justify its striking price of €480,000. Price that, without being the highest in the Show (I have already talked about some that more than doubles it), is in line with the other novelties of a brand whose production does not reach five thousand watches per year. The once groundbreaking digital Zeitwerk is now presented with “decimal” chiming, which is nothing more than the one that sounds every ten minutes “on the go”, that is, without the wearer having to ask it or activate it. Obviously, it can be silenced with a button located on the bezel. Like many other brands present in theSIHH 2017, A. Lange & Söhne has shown some very interesting watches aimed at the female audience.
And when one speaks of “feminine” in the watchmaking environment, one of the first names – if not the first – that comes to mind is Cartier, which in a kind of flashback focuses on the multi-selling Panthere, abandoning – at least partially – the adventure of very high complications that it had embarked on a few years ago. Years that have not been good for Cartier – at least the last two, when it has seen its sales fall by double digits due, again, to the geopolitical situation. Genius and figure, that has not prevented us from seeing wonders such as the mysterious tourbillon floating in a circle that seems empty or a Rotonde minute repeater limited to 50 pieces. However, what I liked the most was the new extra-thin Driver (7 mm) with a manually wound 430MC movement in a rose or white gold case, this one in a limited edition of 200 pieces with a price of 13,000 francs. By the way, you can buy it for half that price in steel and auto-loading.
More than automatic, the Van Cleef and Arpels watch presents an apparently simple automaton – a butterfly that flaps its wings thanks to its own oscillating mass or at the request of a button located on the case. The sophistication of the mechanism is impressive in contrast to its apparent simplicity. It doesn't say it anywhere, but I would bet that this technical marvel comes from the Aghenor workshops and from the head of his alma mater Jean Marc Wiederrecht, who has worked for several a priori non-watch houses such as Hermès or Fabergè, among many others. Take a look at the video.
They also said that Montblanc was not a watchmaker when it stood in the spotlight with Jerôme Lambert and there it is, presenting collections with more and more personality since they incorporated Davide Cerrato, former product director at Tudor, because until then they seemed like low-cost JLC... although I am not very sure that they have chosen the right path: apart from the 1858 collection and the retro chronos with Villeret movements, this year they have opted for the motor world (original eh?) and they present some watches, the new Timewalker that have made me think –sorry– of Tissot, especially the single hour… or would it be the Airking that Rolex released last year? And the “talking piece”: the ExoTourbillon Chrono Ratrapante (or Split Seconds) at a price of €270,000 and a series limited to… exactly, eight pieces.
Although if there is a specialist in limited series it is Panerai. Year after year, and with few formal variations (not aesthetic ones), it achieves incredible attention from fans, who more than fans are apostles, so legendary is their loyalty. Up to six Submersibles have been presented, of which the blue dial Bronzo reference PAM00671 will be a special edition of 1000 units with which it is expected to repeat – I imagine – the madness that was seen with the green Bronzo PAM00507. Like Ulysse Nardin, he will sponsor teams that will compete in the Copa América, but two instead of one and with special editions for each one. Apart from this, the big novelty has been the Panerai LAB-ID, which uses carbon fiber for the case –Carbotech– and the carbon itself to cover a large part of the mechanism (including rubies) of the new caliber P.3001/C (carbon C) to guarantee zero maintenance (it will not need lubrication), which allows it to give a 50-year guarantee… at the price of €50,000. Oh, I forgot: the also new PAM00692 features a BMG (Bulk Metallic Glass) metallic glass case that is super-resistant to almost everything, but – let's face it – the most attractive thing is its deep blue dial.
Parmigiani, another of the guests at this Salon (in the sense that he does not belong to Richemont) has also never had problems setting high prices for his watches, and it would be a mystery to me how he does it if I did not know of his great position in the Middle East and various emirates. It's not that I don't like their watches: in fact I love the Tonda series - not so much Kalpa -, and lo and behold, they have presented a Bugatti Aerolythe that is quite difficult to understand at first glance... which is how watches should be understood. Also a Tonda 1950, elegant if ever there was one, and the Pantografo, which I saw for the first time a few years ago in its manufacture.
Manufacture – and outside the group – is also Audemars Piguet, which seems to have given up on leaving its pigeonholing in the Royal Oak collection. All the models presented – with the exception of the high jewelry ones – are from this collection, and apart from the exterior finishes such as the frosted gold, made with a Florentine goldsmithing technique – from Florence – and the very difficult to work black ceramic that the new perpetual calendar sports, little else, although the extra-thin solo hours, which this year turn 40, continue to captivate me.
I was also captivated by the IWC stand, accustomed as I was – to aviator, Formula 1 and Galapagos environments. What I saw was the reproduction of an Italian “palazzo” in reference to the revision of the Da Vinci collection but above all to the feminine twist they want to give to the brand: it would seem that after years of advertising bordering on the insulting, IWC has realized that ladies also like “real” watches. The result has been a Da Vincis mix with an important nod to the women's section, although they already announce that many of the watches in that range (around 38mm) can be worn by men... Chinese? who has seen you and who sees you. Also, market forces, they announce a drop in entry prices for the brand. Not everything is about aesthetic issues: the new manufacturing caliber 89900 features an escapement wheel and anchor with improved shapes covered with diamond.
As Girard Perregaux already has a high-tech escapement in the Constant Escapement, he has also searched through his old catalogs and resurrected the Laureato for us, mentioning the everlasting DNA (dienei, in English) of a watch that, being very successful, has the virtue of reminding me of not one but two watches by the much-missed Gerald Genta, guess what. In two sizes, 38 and 42mm, it offers all combinations of steel and gold, with a metal or leather bracelet. In addition to the recently awarded Esmeralda (tourbillon under three gold bridges), they have had – in my opinion – the wisdom of updating a watch that I personally had never really liked: the World Timer, making it much thinner and, therefore, much more elegant. Now yes. Finally, and to demonstrate that they are still on the crest of the wave technically speaking, they show the triaxial tourbillon – three axes, yes – in a look-only piece (almost 17mm thick, touching 22mm with the tourbillon dome) whose other visual attraction is a globe entirely hand-painted, as well as the moon phase disc.
Finally, “last but not least”, Baume & Mercier, what is a brand like you doing in a place like this? Since Richemont is a luxury group and this is a Haute Horlogerie show (that is, with capital letters), it would seem more logical for Dunhill to be there, which makes or at least made watches and in some way would be assimilated to the Montblanc case, before the aforementioned, which I think would make more sense at Baselworld. Be that as it may, it strikes a discordant note in theSIHH 2017by presenting a collection, Clifton Club, with divers under €2,000 when right at the stand in front that would be the price of some bracelet that we saw... The feminine part, which has always been in the “dienei” of the house and with equally affordable prices in the Classimas starting at 850 francs. Continuing the collaboration with Shelby that they started last year (toys for boys, you know) we saw the Clifton Shelby Cobra, designed in collaboration with Peter Brock, the father of the legendary Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe car, of which there was a nice example on the stand. The result: three undeniably masculine watches. Although, paraphrasing IWC, women can wear them perfectly, because they are worth it. The cost of these chronos ranges from 3,900 to 7,100 francs, prices without taxes.
I leave my impressions about the so-called independents for another article, although this is a convention since objectively many of those named in this one are. I'm talking about Moser, Grönefeld, Ressence, Laurent Ferrier, Urwerk. Christophe Claret MB&F… come on, the “outsiders” I mentioned at the beginning.
From here I would like to thank Rebeca Planas, head of communications at Piaget, who this year and for the first time has taken care of the members of the Press. Thank you for your professionalism and closeness, Rebeca!
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
