Evolution, Not Revolution: Exploring the Trends from Watches & wonders 2024
Amidst the new releases and innovations, Watches & Wonders signaled a few notable changes across the watch industry. This year highlighted evolutionary trends, rather than a revolutionary shift in the industry.
For me, there were two unexpected standouts: the Hermes Arceau Duc Attellé and the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra. The Hermes Arceau Duc Attelléa features a triple axis tourbillon minute repeater with wandering hours and minutes - a surprising move for Hermes as it is not typically who I think of for high complication watchmaking. The second unexpected piece for me was the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, which takes the record as the world’s thinnest watch, but shouldn’t be a surprise since they achieved the world record with the tourbillon and minute repeater previously.
The industry is moving towards smaller case sizes across the board. I am seeing cases moving towards 39mm or smaller where possible, which makes sense given the trends and tastemakers over the last few years. I would imagine most brands will settle between 37-39 millimeters to keep the watches wearable by almost the entire population, yours truly excluded.
There was a notable increase in gem-set pieces across all brands, and even unexpected from some brands. I saw stones in every color this year, and some simply with gem set bezels, others fully gem set, like the Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce Minute Repeater. In many cases the gem setting was beautiful, but I see this as a trend that will continue for the next few years.
Outside of Palexpo, there was a vibrant scene across Geneva. Hotel Beau Rivage was hopping everyday with brands exhibiting on the Terrasse or holding private client meetings in the lobby. There were also brands at their ateliers in Geneva, meeting clients across the city, and to me, it signaled a clear change. While I don’t think the Group brands will leave Palexpo, I did feel as though there was a move towards a decentralized Geneva Watch Days feel. It wouldn’t surprise me to see more venues like Time To Watches popping up around the city so watch and accessory brands can partner to host a new event.
A quiet Geneva morning during the show - Copyright Idea 33 Media
Watches & Wonders is changing – almost perceptibly- and I wonder if the entire watch fair model is changing. Typically, Brands bring press over in advance of the event to show their watches so that press agencies may prepare their articles, photos, and be ready to share their thoughts on a watch in advance of the show. The press corps then comes back completely in time for the show to then report on the rest of the releases, write more articles, and give impressions of the novelties. I wonder if that model shouldn’t change and all the releases should occur at once, with a media day or two in advance so media teams can get a jump on the amount of content they are asked to produce.
Following the show, I am left wondering if we aren’t expecting too much from brands. Our current expectation is two sets of novelties annually, a spring and a fall release, and I wonder if the two release expectation is setting an unsustainable pace. For most brands, this would mean a Watches & Wonders release, and then a Geneva Watch Days release. Those events are only separated by only 5 months. It’s a lot to ask a brand to constantly bring something new to the table that isn’t merely a dial swap, and in most cases it means creating something special in a truly limited edition. Asking for two major releases in a year might be too much, and I worry that we are going to burn out the creators and creative energy.
Nearly every brand and watchmaker I spoke to last week commented on this, and noted that sometimes things just won’t be ready until they are ready, and sometimes the requirement is more time. Given the crunch that happened to the watch industry supply chains during the pandemic, this makes sense. Going forward, I can see more brands moving forward with one major release per year and one small change for each of the shows, unless they create a piece unique for each show.
This year Watch Week felt like it is becoming a collector centric event. As brands realize that they could build their own space in town in a hotel suite, or showroom to meet with retailers, distributors, and collectors, I think the distribution of brands exhibiting at Palexpo will change. What was previously a badge of honor is now becoming something altogether different.
By and large, most of the releases this year felt a little cautious, perhaps even timid. Some brands were all in on gem-setting, smaller cases, and were certain that is where the trends are moving. Others, however, exercised restraint in waiting out these trends, and were timid in the face of changing tides in the watch industry. I think there will be more interesting novelties coming later this year.
If you are curious about any of the new releases, or want to discuss any of the novelties from this year, I would love to connect with you. Book a time to connect, learn about this year's novelties, and begin building your ultimate collection.
