Worried about sales slump in China and Hong Kong, Swiss watch industry bring in the stars in annual show
At the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, H. Moser & Cie and Christophe Claret showcased intriguing new products while other brands returned to the usual gimmick of Hollywood glam
It was a rough 2015 for the luxury Swiss watch industry. Sales in Hong Kong and China, two of its three biggest markets, fell significantly, dragging down global growth figures into negative territory.
Most of the damage happened in Hong Kong, the world’s largest export market for Swiss watches. According to figures from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch sales in the city dropped 23.2 per cent in the period between January and November 2015. Over on the mainland, sales dropped 5.5 per cent. Overall, the global sales fell 3.3 per cent, the biggest slump since 2009.
Unsurprisingly, given the economic conditions, doom and gloom hung over the build-up to the first big trade show of the year, the Federation of Swiss Watch Industry organised Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, Switzerland. Seeking to invigorate proceedings, the organisers surprised everyone by expanding the number of brands on show and injecting some much-needed buzz and enthusiasm.
Traditionally dominated by the Richemont stable of brands, the 26th edition of the show featured the 15 regulars such as Cartier, IWC, Montblanc and Audemars Piguet. In recent years, the show had become predictable and bloated by the ever increasing numbers of attendees, myriad product launches and a race to convince celebrities – any celebrity – to attend.
This year organisers added nine upstart independent brands such as Urwerk, Christophe Claret and MB&F to the mix. Explaining the change, federation president Fabienne Lupo says that the show now “perfectly combines the knowledge of ancestral maisons with new-wave watchmaking”, but reading between the lines it was obvious the organisers were seeking to co-opt the hottest watchmakers in the industry, those who have little trouble garnering press and social media attention.
And the strategy worked. This year’s event, which closed its doors last Friday, certainly got the attention of the watch blogosphere and even a cursory glance at social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram showed that interest and engagement was up on previous editions. MB&F, founded by Max Busser, took the opportunity of the more vaunted stage to debut another of its “horological machines”, the Sherman watch. Encapsulating the brand’s playful and idiosyncratic approach to watchmaking, Sherman, as Busser describes him, is “a cute little robot” that “doesn’t do very
Limited to 450 pieces, Sherman is an attempt to bring a sense of fun and excitement to what is a highly technical enterprise.
This reliance on glamour tends to overshadow the products themselves, but there were dozens of highlights from the show, most notably Montblanc’s beautifully rendered Orbus Terrarum travel pocket watch and Cartier’s breathtaking Rotonde de Cartier Astro Mystérieux. Inspired by the Cartier mystery clocks of the early 20th century, the Astro Mystérieux features a movement that seems to “float” on the dial, as well as completely rotate each hour. A dramatic and incredibly complex piece, the Astro Mystérieux, like the Sherman, proved that in the end the products, and not celebrities, are the real stars.