This year, there were more brands than ever exhibiting at Watches and Wonders in Geneva – a grand total of 65 – with many stepping up to the main show for the first time, having previously featured among the support acts. So it felt right that my visit to the show began with one of those brands that’s very well known to us: Sinn.
A Letter from Watches and Wonders
As an example of the sheer variety of watches that you find at the show, Sinn was showcasing a dedicated hunter’s watch, with functionality that included a window to indicate not just the moon’s phase, but the intensity of the light from the moon (as by law, hunting with artificial light is banned in Germany). This wasn’t just a poetic flourish: the complication is effectively a calibrated moon phase with a secondary scale mapping lunar illumination percentage, which in turn affects visibility in the field. It’s the sort of hyper-specific, slightly obsessive engineering that Sinn does so well.
That may have been one of the more esoteric themes seen at the show, but there was no doubt which was the most popular: space. With Artemis fever having gripped the world, this was definitely the right time for it – and IWC along with Bremont were the brands leaning into space exploration most heavily.
IWC, in particular, made a really good point: most ‘space watches’ – such as the iconic Omega Speedmaster for instance, or even the Bulova Lunar Pilot – are in fact adapted pilot’s watches. But what if there was a specific tool watch created from scratch for astronauts?
And this is exactly what led to their new Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive, showcased on their stand that looked like you had just stepped into an episode of Star Trek (and that’s before we even mention the ‘communicator’ Retro 64 launched by Hautlence, who performed an impressive verbal gymnastics routine to avoid saying anything that might remotely infringe Mr Spock’s copyright or IP).
But back to the IWC: it looks like nothing else, and all the functions are controlled by chunky pushers (designed to be operated by heavily gloved hands) with no crown. The whole watch has been designed from the outset to operate in zero gravity and has dual time integrated into its core philosophy: those times being ‘mission time’ (usually UTC) plus whatever ‘home’ time the astronauts choose to set. The tech spec takes in highly shock-resistant architecture, anti-magnetic shielding, and components chosen to cope with extreme temperature swings, which is exactly what you want when your commute involves a rocket.
Another equally striking white watch from IWC was the Ceralume, where every component (down to the strap, case, hands, dial, and bezel) is fully lumed. The only drawback to this impressive technical accomplishment is, being essentially white on white, the watch is very hard to read in daylight: only coming alive after dark. So one for the ravers and clubbers of this world.
Whatever you thought about the latest offerings from IWC, you had to wholeheartedly applaud them for doing something different. A couple of journalists who were veterans of the show expressed a bit of disappointment about the number of variations on a theme, from manufacturers they thought should know better, with little in the way of genuine innovation. IWC not only broke the mould this year, but shattered it into a million pieces.
The other brand that went really hard on the space theme was Bremont, which is supplying the very first British watch that will actually go and live in space permanently. Specifically, the new Supernova going to be mounted in Astrolab’s FLIP lunar rover that will be launched later on this year – and once more, there’s a lot of lume happening, with the main party trick kicking in once the lights go out. Given the absence of atmosphere on the moon, the thermal cycling alone is brutal, so the watch is currently going through a torture test with Astrolab prior to launch.
By contrast, one of my favourite new releases from Bremont was distinctly old school, with a limited series of 40 Altitude watches powered by some new old stock Valjoux 23 movements. These are hand-wound column-wheel chronographs from a golden era of Swiss watchmaking, lovingly restored and re-cased. In terms of bookending past and present, nobody did it better than Bremont.
The other big innovation came from one of the most perennially reliable brands in terms of elegance. Parmigiani Fleurier came out with the Chrono Mysterieux, a chronograph that doesn’t look like a chronograph, by keeping the chronograph hand entirely hidden behind the minute hand – until you need it. Mechanically, this involves a co-axial stacking system and clever clutch engagement so that the chronograph seconds can align perfectly beneath the primary handset. Just like their GMT watch in the past, all this artistic accomplishment is achieved without ever compromising the renowned Parmigiani Fleurier aesthetic.
And that’s probably what cuts to the very essence of a brand. Grand Seiko achieved this too, when they revealed the most accurate Spring Drive dive watch history has ever seen: an avant-garde conceit dressed up in the brand’s unmistakable design language. The Spring Drive system blends mechanical energy with quartz precision, delivering accuracy measured in seconds per year rather than per day. But it’s unmistakably a Grand Seiko: in other words, something quietly formidable.
The Stands
The best stand of the show – and there were many contenders – came for me courtesy of Norqain, which had a small but perfectly formed model village of a Swiss ski resort dominating proceedings, complete with buttons where you can make the ski lift work, light up the café, and even control an ice hockey match. For your inner kid or model railway enthusiast, this was amazing. And there were some nice watches too: the Wild One skeleton in burgundy always being a personal favourite, with its shock-absorbing case construction and carbon composite elements. Those looking for something a little more exotic would have enjoyed the new ‘sprinkles’ watches too, dotted with lume in the colours and patterns of the sprinkles found on ice cream cones. Along with space, lume was definitely another theme this year.
One more amazingly creative stand was Panerai, which recreated the ‘vasca Panerai’: essentially a giant fish tank that the company originally installed at the Italian military’s diving base in La Spezia, used to test watches and diving operations in real time under water, while instructors could look on. It gave the phrase ‘immersive experience’ a whole new meaning, and neatly reinforced Panerai’s deep roots in military diving instrumentation.
Compared to that, the TAG Heuer display, with a Red Bull Formula 1 car and a Gulf Le Mans Porsche suspended in mid-air, looked almost quite tame. But TAG Heuer’s releases were anything but: the new Monaco was a stunner, bringing the watch back to its earliest days despite a complete redesign, while the Evergraph was a technical showcase, incorporating next-generation ‘compliant’ watchmaking. When it came to presentations in the auditorium, TAG Heuer were way ahead of everyone else: you really couldn’t help but feel swept along by the energy. And the star quality of Patrick Dempsey also helped.
He wasn’t the only star hanging around though. Usain Bolt visited Hublot, while Formula 1 was well represented too: with the Middle Eastern races that were meant to be happening around now cancelled due to the political situation, drivers found themselves with time on their hands. So George Russell and his girlfriend Carmen dropped into IWC (a long-time sponsor of Mercedes), Racing Bulls new recruit Arvid Lindblad paid a visit to his team’s sponsor Tudor – which launched the Monarch to celebrate its 100 years; a piece that looks a lot better in the metal than in photos – and, most interestingly of all for watch people, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly came to visit team sponsor Moser.
Gasly has designed the most un-racing driver watch you can imagine in conjunction with Moser: a classical tourbillon in a deep chocolate brown. Not a hint of carbon fibre or chronograph anywhere in this superbly elegant dress watch, and it was a privilege to see it in the flesh and talk to the CEO about where they are going in motorsport. More on this to follow later.
Of course, all the serious attention at Watches & Wonders is always going to be paid to Rolex, and so much has been written about this already that it’s hard to add anything meaningful; apart from the fact that it’s impossible to overestimate the sheer hype machine surrounding ‘the crown’ at Geneva.
The Releases
On Tuesday morning, when the new releases are announced, the stand (although ‘three storey building’ would be a more accurate description of Rolex’s unique structure) is often so rammed that you can’t even see any of the watches.
Luckily, of all their new watches, the Rolex Daytona comes closest yet to surpassing those great expectations. This latest example is the most exquisite Daytona to date thanks to that new ceramic dial, which makes the whole layout pop without ever being too showy: an extremely delicate line to tread.
And perhaps because of that, you often gravitate towards the simpler watches at the show, in an environment that’s otherwise full of superlatives. Two examples of these cleaner designs stood out: one is the Oris Star, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of a watch that helped to kick-start mass production for Oris, turning it into the universally recognised brand that it is today. The other is the Favre-Leuba Harpoon: a beautifully recreated skin diver, which is again a faithful but improved copy of the original from 60 years ago.
The Harpoon is slightly bigger than the Star at 36.8mm (as opposed to 35mm), but both share the same vintage aesthetic with a purity and history that has stood the test of time and so doesn’t need to shout about it. The fact that both represent superb value for money (each at about £1700) also helps.
Final Notes
Other notes after three intense days at the show? There’s such a turnover of frenzied business that you can actually easily see how it’s meant to generate £285 million worth of revenue. It’s actually impossible to see everything at the show these days – especially with more and more ancillary events such as Chronopolis popping up around the city – so you always come away thrilled, exhausted, and with this slight feeling that you’re missing out on something. On the positive side, Watches & Wonders is incredibly good for you: a step count of more than 20,000 at the end of each day is entirely normal (although the health benefits are probably undone by the quantity of canapés and Champagne on offer at every corner).
Your favourite watches are rarely the ones you expect: one of the exhibitors at the new Chronopolis show (for slightly rebellious independents) was Nivada Grenchen, which recently launched the Antarctic Erotic: an already elegant watch now enhanced by the spectacle of two copulating penguins, driven by the movement, visible through the see-through caseback. Because, of course, nothing says haute horlogerie quite like lustful Antarctic wildlife.
