highlights


BASELWORLD & SIHH: And the Shows go on ... and on Part 7

July 2005


Thursday, April 7th
And then, all of a sudden, it was Thursday. With legs feeling like overused putty, I took a tram to the fair for the first time and tried to maintain a semblance of enthusiasm, which in fact turned to be easier than I though when I discovered that Universal Genève seemed to be returning to its roots with its new automatic watches that many a brand would have been proud to own. There was a simple one that gave hours, minutes and seconds, a Chronograph (see the Sports article), a Traveler [sic.] a Moon-Timer all in the Okeanos Collection for men. For the ladies, there was an Anthea with or without diamonds that will happily enhance any lady’s wrist.
I then crossed the covered bridge between the watch and jewellery sections and popped in to see David Yurman in the Hall of Visions. David and his wife Sybil established their jewellery company in 1979 after more than twenty years as artists – he as a sculptor and she as a painter – and created a signature design concept of cable jewellery that was revolutionary quickly establishing the brand both nationally and internationally. In 1994, David Yurman expanded into watches and created the Cable Watch Collection, which as Sybil Yurman jokingly explains “… was David’s attempt to get me to be on time!” But in actual fact … “We wanted to design a ‘bracelet that ticks’.”
This was followed by other collections, Thoroughbred, Mercer, Chelsea, Chronograph, Dualtime and Madison which comprised quartz, automatic and complications for both men and women. Each collection is a ‘marriage of science and art’, and, as the brand suggests, are instruments of mechanical innovation and objects of beauty.
2003 saw the establishment of David Yurman SA in La Chaux-de-Fonds for the development, manufacturing and distribution of the David Yurman watch collections.
I then took the shuttle bus to the Hall of Universe where the national pavilions are located. The largest contingent by far is the Hong Kong delegation and there as was the case on my last visit to Hong Kong, much improvement had been made in their approach to branding. However, the single most important development was the number of tourbillons on show – Ocean, E & C Watch, QPF, Louis Carmani and Kentex all proposed inexpensive models.


Watch Fair

Universal Genève, David Yurman


Mr Hashimoto, the owner of Kentex, informed me that the brand was founded in 1997 and now produced around 20-30,000 watches a month, which includes sports watches and a superb chronograph using a Valjoux 7750 movement, and full calendar and power reserve models. As is the case with his tourbillon, there is an exceptional price/quality ratio. As you can see for yourself, his Kentex Classic Tourbillion with date and power reserve, silver dial, sapphire crystal front and back and crocodile strap comes out cheaper than a reasonably priced Swiss Made chronograph.
My final visit of BaselWorld 2005 was to Milleret where Daniel Bättig showed me some very attractive stainless steel watches for women in the Classicon Collection. With a curved case they are available in two sizes, 29.5 x 52.2 mm and 24.0 x 42.0 mm, and come with a single or double row of diamonds on the bezel, or without diamonds. For men, there was a Classic XL with an automatic movement and a Chrono XXL (see the Sports Watch section).
The brand, which was established four decades ago has taken an exciting youthful turn and using the latest technology, designers and craftsmen is producing a very worthwhile collection for today’s modern man or woman about town.
In mid-afternoon, I struggled onto the Geneva bound train, read the headlines of The Times newspaper and regained consciousness when we were close to Geneva. Apparently I didn’t snore too much!

Friday, April 8th
As stunning as the new SIHH architecture is, I found it wanting a little in atmosphere. The uniformity of the elegant stands is traditional, however, the additional space and the rectangular layout somehow detracted from the simplicity and intimacy of the previous years’ visits.
Be that as it may, I enjoyed an excellent presentation of the new watches at Piaget, as well as the perfumed air conditioning that was correlated with the Garden of the Senses theme. We will be showing you some of the magnificent jewellery watches later in the year, however the eye-catcher for me was the Limelight – an 18 carat gold modular watch adorned with 381 diamonds and a Manufacture Piaget 56P quartz movement.
At Panerai, as was to be expected there were some imposing new models, including a Panerai Luminor 1950 Chrono Rattrapante with an automatic movement (see the Sports Watch article).


Watch Fair

Kentex, Piaget


At Vacheron Constantin, the brand displayed the quite extraordinary collection that we mentioned in Europa Star 2/2005 and Montblanc introduced a fine Star XXXL Chrono GMT Automatic in 18 carat red gold, a Star Lady Chrono with diamonds and a Sport Lady, with or without 136 pink sapphires with a really pink rubber strap.
Van Cleef & Arpels did themselves very proud this year. Philippe Belais, the Director of the Watch Division, introduced me to the brand’s latest creations: a Monsieur Arpels Dual Time and a Monsieur Arpels Alarm GMT, as well as, surprise, surprise, a Monsieur Arpels Tourbillon, a very elegant and finely manufactured 18 carat pink gold timepiece (38 mm) with a natural white mother-of-pearl dial with hours, minutes, seconds and power reserve functions.
For the ladies, there was the Alhambra Vintage in 18 carat yellow or white gold in a clover format and the beautifully crafted Secret watch in white gold with pavé diamonds which has a tiny ‘secret’ drawer that when gently pulled reveals a simple and refined white gold watch (see Europa Star 2/2005).
At Baume & Mercier there was a new Classima Executives XL Automatic Chronograph. Its round stainless steel case, black dial and counters with a date aperture at 3 o’clock make the watch easily readable and a likely competitor in the price/value ratio of chronographs (see the Sports Watch article). Combined with the introduction of the brand’s new models in its pre-SIHH conference, it emphasizes that Michel Nieto, the CEO, and his team are making every effort to put the brand back where it belongs on the horological map.
And so, finally, to Cartier, where I discovered amongst its selection of new models, the tortuously named Tortue XL Tourbillon Chronomonopoussoir watch in its Collection Privée. This innovative extra large platinum watch combines two complications – a single push-button chronograph and tourbillon. Water-resistant to 30 metres, it has an 18 carat white gold guilloché dial with Roman numerals, blued steel apple-shaped hands, a sapphire crystal caseback and an alligator strap. It has a one-minute tourbillon and the specially created movement comprises 253 components.


Watch Fair

Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier


By the end of the day and after nearly two weeks of watching – that’s the new word I’ve coined for looking at and running after new watch models – all I could do was slump down in an armchair and wait to be driven down to the South of France for a few very sleepy days. Despite the fatigue, and after my twenty-sixth Basel Fair, I wouldn’t miss this annual ‘watchfest’ for all the tea in a Starbucks coffee house. And yep, it really was a very good year!

BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 1
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 2
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 3
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 4
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 5
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 6
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 7

Source: June -July 2005 Issue

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