SIHH 2012, preview of highlights
From the 16th to the 20th
January the Salon International de Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) opens
its doors for its 22nd edition at the vast Palexpo exhibition
centre alongside Geneva airport. And of course, I will be there to
take in all the show has to offer and will probably see some 300
watches, drink too much coffee and end up with very sore feet.
For a week, a 3,000m2 hangar, more normally associated with the
Geneva International Motor Show is converted into a graciously
appointed series of showrooms where 18 top end watch houses show
their latest horological creations to retailers and press.
The event attracts 5,000 retailers, agents and distributors,
representing around 2,000 points of sales around the world as well
as some 1,300 journalists making it the main selling and press
event of the year for the exhibitors. Thirteen of them are
Richemont Group brands amongst big names such as Cartier, Van Cleef
& Arpels, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Panerai and IWC and the
remaining independents include Girard Perregaux, Richard Mille and
Parmigiani. There is even room for niche brands such as Greubel
Forsey and Roger Dubuis.
The show started as a group of breakaway brands decided to leave
the BaselWorld watch and jewellery show and set up an elite enclave
of tip top horlogeres. Today it is the luxury watch show of the world
and all Geneva is a flutter with flags and banners advertising the
new arrivals.
Here is a first look at the men's models from the new
collections. Difficult to gauge trends from just this selection but
it does look like another fairly conservative year - look at the
traditional lines of the Jaeger-LeCoultre, Baume & Mercier and
Girard-Perregaux to get a flavour of the grown-up looks. But as we
all know, the brands keep the best until the very last minute so I
will keep you posted on all I see. Follow me on Twitter
(TheJewelleryEd) for up to the minute coverage of things
horological from the SIHH starting Monday 16th. A Geneve!