High Time: Luxury Watch Exhibit SIHH Adds Independent Names to Its Salon
Geneva. For five days this week, 24 of the largest names in luxury watches – both long-renowned and up-and-coming game changers – are gathering at Geneva’s Palexpo Exhibition Center in Switzerland for an annual fair to spotlight their latest innovations launching throughout 2016.
The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie opened its doors on Monday to “herald the start of a new watchmaking year” and welcome some of the top movers and shakers in the world of high-end watches, including collectors, bloggers and of course stakeholders of the Maisons to which the event is dedicated.
IWC, A. Lange & Sohne, Audemars Piguet and Jaeger LeCoultre among the 15 globally celebrated brands to showcase their newest creations in the 40,000 square-meter Salon, presenting products ranging from extra-slim, bejeweled designs and extra-large pilot watches, to elaborate chronographs and intricate tourbillons. With such famously lavish names in the mix, it’s no wonder that price tags attached to the exhibited wares are expected to reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This year, however, the notoriously private horological exhibition – which for more than two decades limited its exhibitors to no more than 19 – made the surprising move to stretch beyond the exclusive parameters of Richemont group. The luxury goods conglomerate is the driving force behind SIHH, having established the event through its subsidiary Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie in 1991. Only brands under the group’s far-reaching umbrella may therefore take part.
But for the first time in its 26-year run, SIHH organizers are allowing nine independent watchmakers to share the spotlight with their more commercially established counterparts in the shared space Carre des Horlogers (The Watchmakers’ Square).
These “free agents” of horology are expected to help SIHH “perfectly [combine] the knowledge of ancestral Maisons with new-wave watchmaking,” said Fabienne Lupo, chairwoman and managing director of FHH.
“Together, they are forging a culture that we sincerely trust will once again captivate [visitors] over this week dedicated to excellence in measuring time,” she added.
While some of these independent names are century-old, family-run businesses steeped in Europe’s horological history, others have only recently carved a niche in the industry with their bold, modern designs. For these, the chance to introduce their products at SIHH is a long-awaited one.
“We are very proud to be here at SIHH for the first time,” said Guillaume Tetu, chief executive and co-founder of Neuchatel, Switzerland-based independent watchmaker Hautlence, which launched its first luxury timepiece in 2005.
“[This year] SIHH is open for […] nine selected brands in the creative niche and contemporary design. We are proud to be here and have this exhibition open to us and to be with [journalists] because this is a real chance for us to present [our watches].”
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