Highlights From LVMH Watch Week

The trade show calendar was at one point the defining feature of the watch year and the shows arrived like, well, clockwork. One of the two anchor events, essentially mandatory for both the trade and for the watch press, was the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Genève, which was essentially Richemont Group and Friends (non-group brands varied over the years but included, at one time or another, Girard-Perregaux, Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille and Ulysse Nardin, among others). The show was a pretty hifalutin’ affair — invitation only, not open to the public, and the refreshment kiosks starting pouring champagne at noon.

The other and much bigger show was BaselWorld, which at its peak attracted hundreds of exhibitors and six figure’s worth of guests, and which featured the entire Swatch Group, including Omega, Breitling, Patek, all the LVMH brands, Chopard, and, in the center of the main hall, the towering building-within-a-building that housed Tudor and Rolex. The watch press gathered material that would see them pretty much through the year until new releases started rolling out again in the fall, and retailers would see various exhibitors in order to place their yearly orders.

Then, the roof caved in. BaselWorld basically died of self-inflicted wounds — the show had always been monumentally expensive (being there cost Rolex and Patek, for instance, tens of millions every year although since both companies have what we refer to these days as “f*** you money” they didn’t particularly care. But the refusal on the part of the show to even consider reining in costs, combined with the savage price gouging indulged in by every hotel and restaurant in Basel, plus the realization that with the evolution of the internet, shouting to be heard over every other watch brand once a year with the meter running to seven (or eight) figures wasn’t such a hot idea, made the show — after more than a century — collapse with the speed of an Alpine avalanche calving off a glacier.

COVID lockdowns seemed to be the final nail in the coffin but surprisingly enough, in the last couple of years, luxury watch brands as well as other players in the luxury watch world, have started to see the value in getting more than one brand together to generate excitement about individual products and brands, and about fine watchmaking as a whole. While BaselWorld appears at least for now to be gone for good, Watches & Wonders — a major success for participating brands last year — will be returning again this year, and of course, The 1916 Company last year participated, with our Journe and De Bethune Retrospective, in the ReLuxury “circular luxury” event, which as the pre-owned market continues to expand, may be just the tip of the iceberg.

And, although it’s only the beginning of the year, the first major trade show event has already rolled out: LVMH Watch Week, which was held in Singapore, was an opportunity for all the LVMH watch brands except Louis Vuitton itself, to launch new watches without the distraction of a larger trade show environment (albeit, with the show taking place in Singapore, in-person attendance was somewhat limited by geography and travel constraints). TAG Heuer, Hublot, BVLGARI, and Zenith all showed new timepieces and across the participants, there were some notable departures from business as usual, as well as some demonstrations of a continued commitment to making sure past glories don’t get forgotten.

Hublot was a case in point. The company is today more or less synonymous with the extroverted watchmaking that began in the Jean-Claude Biver era and which continues today, and for LVMH Watch Week that particular philosophy of design was well represented by the Big Bang Tourbillon Yellow SAXEM, which is named for the color and material of the case (SAXEM stands for Sapphire Aluminium oXide and rare Earth Mineral — essentially a colored form of synthetic sapphire). The material has been used by Hublot before, in (for instance) the lime-green MP-11 SAXEM but this is the first instance in which the material’s been used in yellow.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Hublot has also released what’s likely to be an enthusiast’s favorite: A new series of Classic Fusion watches. The basic design of the Classic Fusion pieces goes all the way back to the first Hublot watches, which were designed by Hublot’s founder, Carlo Crocco, in the 1980s (the most noticeable difference between the originals and this year’s Classic Fusion models is that the new releases have six bezel screws, while the originals had 12. The new Classic Fusion models are, as the name says, very classic in look and feel and come in 33mm, 38mm, and 42mm cases and are available in yellow gold, black ceramic, and titanium – but it’s the yellow gold model that feels the most classic of the new Classics.

Zenith launched new Defy watches, including the Defy Skyline Glacier, which is one of the few chronographs capable of timing intervals to 1/100th of a second accuracy (thanks to a gear train for the chronograph system which is separate from the main timekeeping train) and the open-dialed Defy Skyline Skeleton, which uses a high-tech version of Zenith’s El Primero movement, in which the chrono train’s been stripped out to create a time-only watch with a small seconds hand that makes one rotation every ten seconds.

But the enthusiast’s darling was definitely the Defy Revival A3691 – a non-limited, red-dialed version of the A3642 Revival limited edition, released last year in a limited edition of 250 pieces, which was a reproduction of the first Defy wristwatch from 1969. It’s a design very much of the era, when brands were experimenting more and more with non-traditional, almost Pop Art cases and whose experimental spirit would eventually trickle up to watches like the Nautilus and Royal Oak. This year’s model is identical to the Revival from last year, as well as the original from 1969 except for the deep scarlet dial, which really puts the Pop in the Pop art design. At a distance of over fifty years, the design no longer looks on trend, as it did in 1969, but it has aged much better than many other designs from the same period and the dated quality of the watch has everything to do with its charm. Zenith had the good sense not to mess with a good thing (not always a given in revival watches) and last year’s Revival – and this year’s – show that having the courage of your convictions in an unusual design can really pay off.

The vibe in general for LVMH Watch Week was a bit “something for everyone” and TAG Heuer, as you’d expect from a brand which of the LVMH brands in the show is the most commercial, did indeed go for variety. For the retro-ethusiasts in particular, and those with conservative tastes in general, there was the 39mm Carrera Chronograph 60th Anniversary Limited Edition, which sold out almost immediately after its launch was announced. For someone who wants a Hublot feel from a brand that isn’t Hublot, we had the very colorful 42mm Monza Flyback Chronometer.

I’m probably going against conventional wisdom here, but to be honest I thought one of the most interesting new watches of LVMH Watch Week was something that a lot of self-professed mechanical purists wouldn’t particularly admit to liking, but which fits TAG Heuer very well and ought to be very appealing: The new titanium version of last year’s Aquaracer Solargraph. The watch is 40mm in diameter and delivered on a titanium bracelet and will run all day on two minute’s exposure to light, and if you want a care-free sports watch from a brand with a long and impeccable history of making practical tool watches, the titanium Aquaracer Solargraph is an interesting option.

It’s also part of what I think might be a larger trend in entry level luxury watches in coming years – light powered versions of classic designs, like the Cartier Tank Solarbeat, can offer a great point of entry into classic designs and classic brands which are also extremely satisfying in themselves. Increasingly (as fans of Citizen’s Eco-Drive watches have known for years) an affordable watch doesn’t have to feel like you’re settling.

And BVLGARI? They’ve been busy breaking records for many years now, mostly in ultra-thin watchmaking, and they’ve created so many interesting and unusual movements that it’s really impossible to call them a mere fashion-watch brand (and that’s been true for a very long time). That said, this year’s LVMH Watch Week releases leaned hard into the Roman jeweler’s identity as a jewelry brand – stuff like the new Diva’s Dream Mosaica watches are really almost pure art and high jewelry pieces rather than examples of fine watchmaking per se.

That said, I think that in a year that despite the fact that it’s only January, already looks like one where playing the hits is going to be an essential element in any legacy brand’s launches, the Serpenti has always looked good, looks good now, and by god, if it doesn’t look like it’s going to keep looking good. My personal favorite of all of BVLGARI’s launches, and I bet a lot of other people’s, was the new Serpenti Tubogas Infinity, which was launched in two versions – single or double wrap, with diamonds stretching along the entire length of the snake’s bracelet. You can’t help but think (well, I can’t) of the dragon Smaug from The Hobbit, and his waistcoat of gems embedded in his body from long repose on his bed of stolen precious stones. BVLGARI, if you’re listening, a snake bracelet becomes a dragon bracelet so easily. And while we’re on the subject of infinity, a Moebius strip Serpenti would just be too cool.