Before we get down to the important features of the SIHH such as what I had for lunch each day and who drank all the chardonnay, I’d like to point out a little niggly element that bothered me during this important event.
It concerns that unfathomable enigma that appears to be worrying all and sundry - the economic crisis and there seems to be no end to the harbingers of the doom and gloom syndrome. Although exhibitors acknowledged a cautious and subdued optimism at the SIHH, it was abundantly clear for any visitor roving around the elegantly designed Salon, that the only important ingredient missing to make the event a resounding success was people.
Over the four days that I attended, there were two days when I had difficulty finding a seat for lunch (a true gauge if ever there was one) and that was the second and third day of the SIHH when there were approximately one thousand two hundred journalists in attendance. Of course it may have been purely and simply the voracious appetite of the press, or the attraction of the culinary delights set out before us (creamy squash and chestnut soup, morel mushroom en croÛte, smoked salmon, Thai chicken salad, sushi (yuk) etc.) but the fact is that we the press far outnumbered buyers on those days.
Panic or pessimism?
Be that as it may, the SIHH was conceived as the perfect ambience for both buying and selling and for eighteen years that has proved to be the case. This, the nineteenth year however, despite what you may have read or heard from the organizers and exhibitors, was morose. Even before the SIHH had opened its doors, news was on the streets that Cartier had put one hundred and sixty of its employees in its Villars-sur-Glâne site in Switzerland on partial unemployment (employees receive a percentage of their salary from the state, but have to make themselves available for other full-time employment). That step is usually taken when a long downturn in the economy is expected. Since then news has filtered through that both Ebel and Zenith also have laid off employees.
One of the arguments that the leading luxury brands such as Cartier normally come up with is that because of their vast worldwide distribution, if one continent is in meltdown it will be balanced out by another that has either a bullish economy or has turned the proverbial corner. What bothers me most is given that Cartier introduced a minimum of a score of new timepieces ranging from the simple elegance of the new Baignoire to its inspired tourbillon, is the brand simply panicking, being overly pessimistic, or are retailers so overstocked? One thing is for sure, we won’t learn much from the brands concerned, there appears to be a moratorium on pertinent information.
Much to its credit, the Swatch Group, via Nick Hayek, will not be firing staff, stating that the brands shouldn’t try to please the stock exchange all the time by starting to dismiss people because revenue is down after years of vast profits.
Source: Europa Star February-March 2009 Magazine Issue
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