By this time subsequent week, main tendencies and subjects popping out of this yr’s Watches & Wonders occasion will (principally) be fairly clear. Forward of the present, our editorial group has some ideas on what we’ll be on the lookout for as we strategy the watch business’s main tradeshow. These aren’t product predictions, essentially (spoiler alert: we already know a variety of what’s coming, and also you received’t discover us utilizing AI to provide you with what we predict a hypothetical Rolex or Tudor of your goals would possibly appear to be), however what we’re anticipating for the present itself extra broadly.
Zach Weiss
I’m unsure precisely what number of years I’ve been attending commerce reveals, however contemplating the COVID hole, my guess is a few decade—a decade beginning with the defunct Basel and I’m now about to attend my fourth Watches & Wonders. And, I’ll be candid, I’m unsure what I’m on the lookout for. The present is rather a lot much less about discovery than Basel was. It’s principally a time to see in particular person the watches we’ve seen in our emails within the previous weeks, get some hands-on time, and make some fast impressions, shake some arms, and so forth.
Positive, some tight-lipped manufacturers, like Tudor, give us no advance data. So there at all times is somewhat adrenaline rush at 9 am on the primary day. However, after that, the cat is out of the bag (cats are out of the luggage?). There’s a variety of operating round as a result of conferences are set too shut and the area is only a bit too huge, and there’s a shocking variety of individuals loafing in the best way, in addition to chairs in all places, so you possibly can’t run. Among the many media, there’s a variety of “what did you want up to now,” “did you see this but?” and “man, issues are loopy.” Manufacturers ask you what it’s like within the halls, as a result of they typically don’t have an opportunity to depart their cubicles.
It’s oddly rinse-and-repeat. Nevertheless it’s additionally days of deep immersion in watches, and sure, I really like watches. I really like holding them, I really like photographing them, I really like taking the 10X loupe I’ve connected to my bag out to see if these bevels are actually nearly as good as they are saying. There’s our annual meal at an excellent Singaporean restaurant that, fortunately, nobody else has found. In the long run, it’s at all times a enjoyable, if exhausting, time.
Which leads me to one thing I’ll positively be on the lookout for: a spot to sit down. Museum fatigue is an actual factor that features “…fatigue together with exhaustion, satiation from repeated publicity to related reveals, stress, data overload, object competitors from the simultaneous presentation of a number of stimuli, restricted consideration capability, and the decision-making course of.” So, a great chair, to cease, get off my ft, decompress for a sec, and possibly make amends for social media, is one thing I’m trying ahead to.
Zach Kazan
Yearly, as Watches & Wonders approaches, you possibly can really feel a story start to take form even earlier than the primary conferences happen. It has much less to do with the brand new releases we’ll see from the roughly 60 manufacturers collaborating within the occasion, and is extra concerning the financial local weather, the present state of the watch market, and dozens of different intangibles. However you type of get a way of what to anticipate by way of the temper of the present. This yr, the vibes, as the youngsters say, are kinda dangerous.
Right here’s the gist: the watch market has slowed, and types are displaying quaint indicators of real warning. The LVMH Watch Week novelties are maybe a great barometer of what number of mainstream luxurious manufacturers are approaching the brand new launch season. Probably the most talked about items popping out of that occasion have been the true heavy hitters – tremendous watches and jewellery centered items with vanishingly small manufacturing numbers. These are watches with monumental revenue margins, aimed toward a small handful of purchasers who’re more likely to be insulated from a worldwide financial slowdown. So we see LVMH concentrate on the uncommon, expensive stuff. Watches aimed on the mass market are iterative, and never very dangerous (suppose: purple Carrera, and one more Defy Skyline variant).
As for the present itself, I’ll be curious to see how a number of small adjustments add as much as altering the Watches & Wonders expertise. For the second yr in a row, the present has expanded choices for most people to attend. There are two tiers of public day entry, together with a brand new go that’s considerably costlier than a standard public day ticket aimed toward VIPs. Catering to the general public, whatever the worth of a ticket, says one thing vital about what Watches & Wonders is, and would possibly ultimately turn out to be. Bear in mind, that is ostensibly a commerce present, an occasion that in most industries is just not solely off limits to gen pop, however frankly not normally of a lot curiosity. Reaching out to finish customers and making it simpler for fanatics to attend mirrors the notion that the licensed vendor, sometimes a very powerful attendee of a watch business commerce present, is being bypassed as manufacturers start to really feel extra snug promoting to purchasers instantly.
There’s an identical impression on media and journalists who attend the occasion. I think about we’ll see fewer conventional watch media at this yr’s occasion, and extra social media influencers. They’ll all be combating for a similar cramped actual property, although, relating to really working the present within the press lounge. That’s “lounge,” singular. In keeping with the Palexpo map we have been despatched this week displaying the areas of each sales space, for the second yr in a row solely a single lounge will likely be obtainable, and let’s simply say it’s not in essentially the most accessible space of the corridor. Journalists have been by no means the primary precedence of Watches & Wonders organizers (and actually, they shouldn’t be) however they’ve maybe fallen a rung or two down on the totem pole.
Does this sound like doom and gloom? That’s not my intent – I’m, as at all times, extremely excited for the present. It’s the Tremendous Bowl of the watch business, and I’d query anybody in my place who is just not genuinely excited for the expertise we’re all about to have. There are sure to be surprises, discoveries, and fascinating tales growing on the fringes of the present and all through Geneva, and we’re trying ahead to documenting as a lot of it as potential subsequent week.
Kat Shoulders
I’m personally fairly interested by whether or not this yr watch manufacturers will proceed the development of extra artistic dangers. Final yr did really feel like a comparatively quiet present in my view. It wasn’t that the releases have been dangerous — removed from it — however both the present or the releases themselves lacked the joy and sense of novelty that makes occasions like Watches & Wonders so electrifying. With the business as aggressive as ever, this looks like a chief alternative for manufacturers to push boundaries and create some buzz.
I’m properly conscious there at all times appears to be an expectation that yearly will deliver blockbuster releases and seismic shifts. Which leads me to surprise if the Watches & Wonders phenomenon is changing into overhyped? Are we reaching some extent the place the hype outweighs the truth? We’ll be maintaining a tally of how manufacturers juggle huge, buzzworthy launches whereas nonetheless refining their collections and staying true to who they’re. The factor I’m interested by is that if we see extra delicate, incremental updates, will fanatics really feel let down, or is there nonetheless room to have fun craftsmanship over spectacle?
I’m additionally excited to see how manufacturers roll with the punches because the watch accumulating scene retains evolving. In the previous few years we’ve positively seen a shift towards unbiased manufacturers gaining extra recognition, in addition to elevated curiosity in watchmaking transparency. The true pleasure at Watches & Wonders isn’t simply concerning the new releases — it’s about getting a glimpse into the place the posh watch business’s head is at. We’re curious to see in the event that they’re taking note of the little guys and the conversations the watch neighborhood, Worn & Wound, and others have been driving over the previous yr, or if it’s enterprise as regular.
