How do you keep your head above water in such turbulent times? By taking another look at your products, obviously. Price, which we examine in closer detail in Europa Star TIME.BUSINESS folio, is not the only lever the watch industry needs to focus on. In our TIME.KEEPER folio, we offer a few suggestions.

In the Highlights segment, more than twenty brands introduce their novelties. It is a place where they can prove their creativity and where products take centre stage: their latest creations will be of interest to both professionals and amateurs alike. We also show a selection of Extraordinary Watches that surprise our senses with limpid transparency or, at the other extreme, the deepest black. Or, in the case of Dominique Renaud, take the art of watchmaking back to the drawing board, starting with a blank sheet. The future of watches will depend on this interplay between art and industry.

Vianney Halter was one of the pioneers of the creative watchmaking renaissance of the 2000s; he’s now looking for a way to harness that energy in a way that makes sense for the remainder of the 21st century. The exuberant creativity of the recent Gaïa Prize winner is embodied in his place of work, which we reproduce in photographs in this issue. Don’t expect meticulously ordered tool benches against a backdrop of snow-dusted hills. It’s an Aladdin’s cave bursting with a profusion of treasures, from vintage artefacts to futuristic objects whose purpose can only be guessed at.

Then, in Time.Keeper, we play with time, jumping back and forth from the distant past to possible future directions. We look at the reasons for the boom in the vintage watch market, at a time when the market for new watches is enduring a somewhat bumpy return to earth. And we also indulge in an unusual exercise: dissecting an Apple Watch, to discover what lies hidden inside this wrist-mounted UFO.

Finally, we would like to seize this opportunity to warmly thank all the watch companies that have placed their trust in us for this special 90th anniversary issue, as well as those that have used Europa Star for decades since 1927 as a favoured channel for their international communication… and ultimately their success. We also look forward to welcoming more partners into our global networks, because we firmly believe that the horological art and industry holds a bright and surprising future if it asks itself the right questions. We are here to support the entire global watch community in this challenging process. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at the products!

Source: Europa Star TIME.BUSINESS/TIME.KEEPER Chapter 1 / Dec. 2016 - Jan. 2017

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