Visit a living room as large as Watches & Wonders provides many emotions that can be contradictory. One thing is certain: you never know in advance on which we are going to fall. You can be seduced, amazed, breathtaking or on the contrary disappointed, frustrated or disturbed by what we discover there. This is what makes the strength of such a fair which now brings together sixty of brands. It is a kind of permanent emotional roller coaster and that is what makes it so exciting. I offer you a small anthology of ten points that have aroused questions and perplexity from me.
The ceramic dial of the new GMT-Master II of Rolex
I really liked Rolex’s offer this year and I’m not going to come back here to the Land-Dweller which is for me the living room watch. On the other hand, I did not understand the interest of the green dial in ceramic of the GMT-Master II in gray gold. I did not like its visual rendering that I find less subtle than the usual dials and I do not necessarily find that it is a good idea that it matches with the green part (day) of the telescope. In fact, I did not understand how this dial brought more compared to existing dials. And as at the same time, Rolex presented a sublime dial in iron, I quickly forgot this ceramic dial. It is perhaps a dial which is appreciated in use and I also imagine that the artificial light of the living room does not pay tribute to it. But in any case, he did not pack me and I did not perceive the goal of the maneuver.
The too consensual design of the new tag Heuer Carrera Day-Date
My first meeting by Watches & Wonders was with Tag Heuer. And I started with Formula 1 Solargraph. I said to myself: it starts well, with quartz watches. Apart from that I really liked these Formula 1 Solargraph, fun and very well done. On the other hand, I did not have the same vibrations with the new Carrera Day-Date. Are they doing well? Yes. Is the link change system top? Yes. However, the design is really too consensual and the lack of risk taking generates boredom. I told myself that by removing the logo, we were unable to guess the brand. It is an unstoppable test. When you are a general and volume brand, you have to accept risk -taking and be able to create emotions. Otherwise, the customer does not spend. Too bad because the watchmaker was in progress.
The sound of the Reverso Tribute Minute Repeateur
I found that Jaeger-LeCoultre presented very good new products. Undoubtedly. What is indisputable too is that the manufacture may be the best with Patek Philippe with regard to minutes. But in the end, it would be necessary to make an observation: the Reverso is not the best watch to host such a complication. Form of the case, form of gongs, all this generates too many constraints and the sound of this Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater was not up to my expectations. Too bad because the watch is very beautiful. Let us keep hope: the repeated watches minutes are the ones that suffer the most during the salons and the Reverso had already suffered 3 days of fierce tests when I discovered it. But finally when returning to the manufacture, we will have to work on everything: the sound, the volume, the rhythm, the resonance, in short of the work to do.
Masterpieces prices at Lange & Söhne
Let’s open the debate anyway. Yes, the perpetual minutes of Lange & Söhne is a superb watch. Yes, it sounds rather well and its realization is impeccable. But the price is stratospheric: more than 700,000 euros. I remind you, this watch combines a minutes and a perpetual mood. She has no whirlwind. If I am asked how much worth with wet finger a watch that combines these two complications, I would say between 400 and 500,000 euros when it comes from a beautiful manufacture. We are here at more than 700,000 euros. We are in price levels that corresponded some time ago to that of the big ringtones. Being in excellence is good. However, at one point you have to have consistent prices. In a short -term vision, I don’t think this price is a problem and the 50 pieces will surely be sold. Finally I hope for Lange & Söhne. But if we project in a few years and some copies find themselves at auction or second-hand, at what price will they come out? Beware of such prices do not lead to perverse effects. Also let’s not forget that some had already reacted last year by discovering the price of the perpetual datograph swirl Honeygold “Lumen”. And the people in question were not Sunday collectors. Paradoxically, I found the price of the Odysseus in honey gold rather well fixed. I would also like Lange & Söhne to be really attractive to the 30/40K segment with watches that had forged its reputation, much more than the masterpieces in the end. We should not forget it.
The enigma of the perpetual quantième toric
The perpetual quantion of amonggiani Toric is for me the number 1 enigma of the show. It is praised by almost the whole press (the press is unanimous as they say) but I absolutely did not understand it to the point of considering it as missed. Its dial seems empty to me, the quantums are not more visible, however (for example, Moser had managed to simplify the dial while using a large date window), the center of gravity rocks down the dial, the manual reassembly movement is not suitable for complications and its finish is the same as the three -needle model. This watch is the antithesis of the Toric QP retrograde which can be put in a Winder and which in addition has very readable quant themes. So I hope that it was I who did not understand the substance and it is rare that I am in such a gap in relation to other observers. Now, what matters to amongGiani is what end customers think because they are the real peace judges.
Another misunderstanding: Montblanc 1858 Géosphere Annual Calendar Limited Edition
I saw everything at Montblanc: good with the 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson geosphere, the correct with the ICED SEA Automatic Date 0 Oxygen (one day it will be necessary to simplify the names) and finally a huge failed opportunity with the 1858 Geosphere Annual Calendar Limited Edition. What a pity that this watch which uses a movement developed at Minerva with interesting architecture has a tarabiscotated dial which beats the world record in the number of different fonts. It may be normal for a brand dedicated to the basis of writing instruments but in the end it makes the whole whole bizarre or even unsightly. In any case, the rendering is not compatible with the price charged. I told myself that Montblanc should especially dedicate Minerva to chronographs because this is definitely the best.
The great absent: Girard-Perregaux
Each time, I am given explanations but I still have not understood the logic of the isolated presence of Ulysses Nardin in Watches & Wonders. Wouldn’t there be the possibility of dedicating part of the stand to Girard-Perregaux? Is it not possible to enter an optimization logic and give better visibility to Girard-Perregaux through a common stand? Because in the end, the Ulysses Nardin stand is large, the price should not be given, all to present a single novelty. If I had to do an economic calculation, the cost of the stand per watch sold must be very high. But there must surely be parameters which I am not aware of.
Watches size at Hublot
The fact that the “historic” Big-Bang-Bangs through its 20th anniversary edition incorporates the Unico caliber is excellent news. This gives watch credibility to this model which forged the brand’s reputation in its second period. On the other hand, I found this edition (too) large with its diameter of 43mm and in general, the hublot watches remain imposing. This is part of the brand’s DNA will we say. Yes but no. After all, the first porthole I knew, that of Carlo Crocco was rather refined and interpreted a certain idea of contemporary elegance. It is now urgent that Hublot is working on the watchmaking content of Classic Fusion. Obviously, the brand could not leave aside the anniversary of the Big-Bang. But you really have to make the Classic Fusion collection more attractive to put Hublot back in its dynamics.
The finishes of simple movements with three needles of high watchmaking brands
I have always had the same feeling for several years: I have the conviction that the high watchmaking brands could do much better from the decorative point of view with their simple three -hand movements. Take the example of the very pretty Calatrava 6196p which was presented at the show this year. The watch is still worth 46,800 euros. The 30-255PS movement is undoubtedly pleasant to observe and it generously occupies the case which is good news. However, the shape of the bridges invites to a more daring decorative approach. For example, there are two opportunities to make back angles and none of the two is seized. I would like to find more ambition in this area. The price level practiced should encourage brands to do so and the remark is also valid for many competitors from Patek Philippe. The difference in approach with certain actors of independent watchmaking is sensitive and I feel less and less “waouh” effect by discovering the simple movements of the big houses. They now find their best territories of expression in more complicated movements and it is a shame.
Roger Dubuis and the mystery of the sympathy box
The Roger Dubuis stand presented some historic watches. And in the end, seeing them, I asked myself the same question again and always. But why does this factory no longer use its most beautiful box? Why does she not make the observation that the watches they present today have not the same attraction as the famous sympathy of yesteryear? There had indeed been an attempt with the Monegasque but the approach undertaken was too consensual to operate. So we have a brand which has a wonderful case, which has character and which does not use it. I know that the image of the brand today is no longer that of the beginnings. But nothing prevents returning backwards. Besides, the presentation of the Bi-Retrograde Calendar Excalibur proves all this ambiguity. The brand would like to reconnect with its past but it does not frankly go back. So we end up with a hybrid watch, certainly not unpleasant but far from the charm of perpetual bi-retro sympathy. When we skate, you should not sometimes hesitate to make a reset.
All these remarks are the expression of my own feeling and I have fully aware that they are not shared by all. However, it seems important to me to write in a way involved because if the debates are not committed, there is no point in going to the salons. There is a commercial context that is delicate for industry and brands must realize that end customers have gained a lot of maturity and knowledge. So, if at some point we do not ask the right questions and if we do not challenge the brands, the situation will not improve. The challenge for the next few years is really to adapt the watchmaking content to prices. Today it is this inadequacy that slows down the most purchases and this theme of the inadequacy regularly returns regularly in the remarks raised above.
