Swiss watches fair moved to Shanghai
April 20, 2021 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
Geneva’s international expo of fine watches is switching to Shanghai on April 21 for a physical version after staging an online edition to keep the prestigious fair going during the pandemic. The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, now restyled as Watches and Wonders, was canceled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, with Europe battling a third wave of the pandemic, the fair – one of the major annual gatherings for luxury watchmakers – opened online on April 7, closing on April 20. But an in-person version will run from April 21 to 25 in Shanghai, where Covid-19 is under control. Several new products were already unveiled by some of the 38 brands participating on the salon’s digital platform. Chanel has produced watches in pop colors inspired by 1990s electro music; Rolex made a dial from a fragment of a meteorite, while Cartier has produced a watch strap from 40% plant material taken from waste apples. Nineteen brands will participate in the physical event in Shanghai.
The virtual version is “a great opportunity to learn”, Edouard Meylan, the head of luxury watchmaker H. Moser, said. Even once the crisis is over, online events will become more commonplace, he predicted. “It will never replace the salons and making contact in person,” he added. “But it is in tune with the times.” H. Moser produces around 1,500 pieces per year intended for collectors, which cost €31,800 on average. When Meylan realized that the pandemic was not going away any time soon, he invested in digital technology, shifting the brand into a new era. “We bought cameras, lights and set up a whole studio in the workshop, with decor. It looks like a movie set,” he said. That allowed them to produce slick content for Instagram and organize virtual tours of the factory. For Hermes Director Guillaume de Seynes the digital salon cannot quite replicate the traditional in-person set-up. The Parisian house set itself up in Geneva’s Batiment des Forces Motrices, a grand entertainment venue on the River Rhone, and let two young French artists create an installation featuring the flagship H08 model presented at the salon.
Jean-Daniel Pasche, President of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, is just happy the salon could be held in any format following a tough year for the industry. Switzerland’s third-largest export sector has been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis, with boutiques shuttered due to virus control measures, and the collapse of the tourism industry on which the luxury sector depends. In 2020, Swiss watch exports fell by 21.8% to €15.8 billion compared with 2019. China became the biggest export market for Swiss watches in 2020 as exports to Hong Kong dropped by 36.9% and to the U.S. by 17.5%. China was the only major growth market for Swiss watchmakers, with exports up 20% to almost CHF2.4 billion, the Global Times reports.
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