Is the watch truthful debate lastly over? Organisers and exhibitors appear to suppose so. After years of mud-slinging and uncertainty — peaking with the very public demise of the Baselworld Swiss megafair — the clock could not be ticking for the survival of the watch present. However, whereas the mud has settled, divisions stay.
“There may be large momentum in Watches and Wonders,” says Matthieu Humair, chief government of the Watches and Wonders Geneva Basis (WWGF), the non-profit organiser of what’s now Switzerland’s solely main watch truthful, opening on March 27. “It’s the style week of the [watch] trade.”
Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier and Tag Heuer shall be among the many exhibitors at this yr’s occasion, which is anticipated to interrupt attendance information. The 2022 gathering recorded virtually 22,000 guests however, in contrast to final yr, the truthful will now be open to the general public on the weekend, when Humair expects 10,000 paying clients to indicate up.
Final yr’s truthful was closed to the general public however, following an outcry from exhibitors and the success of watch occasions designed to achieve exterior the trade — such because the biennial Dubai Watch Week hosted by retailer Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons — the muse has modified tack.
“We need to contain most of the people and discuss watchmaking not solely in Palexpo [the host convention centre] however in Geneva,” Humair says. Tickets to the general public days will price SFr70 ($76), which may usher in significant revenues however, given exhibitors are paying thousands and thousands, the influence on the organisers’ backside line might not be as vital.
Over the identical week, one other truthful referred to as Time to Watches may even return to Geneva. Final yr’s debut occasion attracted 36 smaller watch manufacturers, corresponding to Corum, Vulcain and Louis Erard.
Exhibitors consider the tide has turned. “Earlier than the pandemic, everybody was questioning the gala’s,” says Jean-Marc Pontroué, chief government of Panerai, one of many Richemont group of manufacturers exhibiting in Geneva. “There was a common settlement and, to be cool, you needed to say the present was ineffective. However we want this.”
Some critics admit they bought it fallacious. “I used to be satisfied that, after Baselworld, the manufacturers would go over to digital content material,” says Oliver Müller, founding father of Swiss luxurious consultancy LuxeConsult. “However the first W&W . . . that occurred digitally . . . was a catastrophe. Even technology-driven manufacturers like Apple or Tesla want public occasions to create an environment. Gala’s nonetheless can create the magic of bodily encounters.”
If reveals corresponding to W&W are actually helpful, it’s as a result of they’ve reorganised. The old school business-to-business gross sales mannequin is all however gone, changed by a stronger deal with the top shopper.
“At this time, I don’t care concerning the gross sales outcomes, as a result of I’ve them earlier than the present begins,” says Pontroué, including that the Geneva truthful prices him “thousands and thousands” and is considered one of his enterprise’s “prime three investments for the yr”.
“What I care about now’s the press and media protection,” he says. “I’ve that suggestions daily [at the fair]. And it pays for the funding in W&W Geneva large time. The actual fact you will have one present provides you a magnitude of protection you wouldn’t in any other case have.”
Different exhibitors share his view. “It’s a pleasant stage to indicate what we do and it’s very constructive by way of picture to be there,” says Julien Tornare, chief government of Zenith, considered one of three LVMH watch and jewelry division manufacturers that shall be at Geneva. “That’s what we pay for.”
However, regardless of newfound confidence in watch gala’s, loads are staying away. Some manufacturers that exited Baselworld and W&W’s precursor, the Salon Worldwide de la Haute Horlogerie, earlier than the pandemic are but to return.
Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, Breitling and the Swatch Group of manufacturers, which incorporates Omega and Longines, have stayed away. Swatch Group left a gaping gap in Baselworld 5 years in the past, when its chair Nick Hayek famously said he had higher methods to spend $50mn.
One other W&W outlier is Bulgari, which shall be exhibiting in Geneva on the time of the present, however not as a part of it.
“W&W stays a high-cost occasion,” says Bulgari chief government, Jean-Christophe Babin, who additionally displays at LVMH Watch Week every January and was the founding father of Geneva Watch Days, a decentralised mini-show attended by round 20 manufacturers that’s scheduled to run for a fourth consecutive yr this August. “My three occasions price me about half what W&W would price me. And we achieve complete freedom of doing what we wish.”
Babin additionally says he won’t exhibit on the occasion whereas LVMH is excluded from the board of the WWGF, which was established in October by Rolex, Richemont and Patek Philippe. “The query is extra whether or not the muse is able to acknowledge LVMH as a significant actor in watchmaking and, as a consequence, whether or not it deserves the area and affect a significant participant ought to have in that organisation,” he says. “If these circumstances have been met, in all probability there can be a gap on our aspect.”
In accordance with Humair, there are not any plans to increase an invite or to alter the board’s make-up. Large exhibitors are invited to affix an organising committee, however not the board.
Some analysts have advised Babin’s demand is unreasonable, although. “LVMH isn’t a member of the board as a result of it doesn’t want the truthful,” says Astrid Wendlandt, editor of luxurious information website Miss Tweed. “It has its personal occasions for which it masters expenditures, timing, format and communication.”
Others seem nearer to a return. “Audemars Piguet may simply return if the format have been to be modified,” says François-Henry Bennahmias, the corporate’s outgoing chief government, including he wish to see extra frequent client-focused occasions organised throughout the yr in east Asia, the Center East and the US, in addition to Geneva. AP pulled out of SIHH after the 2019 occasion. It now mixes on-line launches with in-person shows, both at its manufacturing centre in Switzerland or in its world community of what it calls AP Homes.
Bennahmias says that, whereas he’s in favour of a good, his circumstances are unlikely to be met. “The entire watch trade needs to be concerned and we shouldn’t see totally different gala’s the place one model goes this fashion and the opposite one’s going that approach,” he says. “It needs to be everybody below the identical roof. ”
Humair says he would love nothing extra. “All yr lengthy, every model can do their very own initiative, however for one week they’ve a typical venture with the identical mission to speak collectively about watchmaking,” he explains. “That is for future generations.”
Is the controversy over? “I hope it’s,” says Mark Toulson, head of watch shopping for at retailer Watches of Switzerland Group. “Rolex and Patek Philippe see the worth in it, and smaller manufacturers piggyback on that. All of them need to promote mechanical watchmaking and drive curiosity in the entire trade.”
Zenith’s Tornare believes manufacturers have to take a long-term view. “We need to be sure future generations are concerned with mechanical watches. So my dream can be to have a large-scale occasion the place everyone can be a part of.”
Some consider it’s easier than that. “Promoting luxurious is all about relationships,” says Rob Corder, founding father of the London occasion WatchPro Salon. “That may embrace WhatsApp and social media however, if 2022 taught us something, it’s that individuals need to spend time with others with shared passions.”
