Are we pumped for SIHH 2018 yet? Just like the “holiday shopping season” and beginning around the same time, it seems like the new-product announcements get earlier every year. With still more than a month to go, the 2018 models that we will get to see in Geneva in January have already started coming in. The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) watch industry trade show, just like its organizing body the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), has continued to grow and evolve each year, adding more brands as well as a day where the show is open to the public for the first time in 2017 – this time around, it will be Friday, January 19th, 2018. Now with a total of 35 brands, SIHH 2018 promises even more variety than in previous years.
You already know that SIHH is one of the two most important events for the watch industry, as its exhibitors – while much fewer than at the biggest industry trade show, Baselworld – represent many major and influential brands, and this is the time of year when they introduce their most important new products. Vis-à-vis Baselworld – where around 300 brands represent the breadth of the watch industry from high-end and mainstream to obscure startups – SIHH has always carefully maintained an image of exclusivity and “prestige.”
So, while a few brands do introduce models in the “mid-level luxury” range that the average person might be able to consider saving up for and possibly actually wearing… you can expect a lot of skeletonization, avant-garde designs, artisanal techniques and haute horology finishing, “high complications,” precious materials, and stratospheric prices. Haute horlogerie is in the name, after all. It has largely been a spectator’s show for fans of high-end watchmaking, but with recent industry trends emphasizing more “down-to-earth” (it’s all relative) models, some balance and variety can at least be hoped for.
As I mentioned previously, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic Universal Time Tourbillon will not make use of the deceased beat seconds complication – but that I did not miss it. What it does include from the bigger Geophysic collection is the in-house-made and -designed Gyrolab balance wheel. This is a special balance wheel with a smaller footprint so as to decrease the effects of air resistance as it moves, thus increasing efficiency. I’m pretty sure we are safe to assume that this is the first time that the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrolab equilibrium wheel was put inside of a tourbillon-equipped timepiece.The flying tourbillon seems to come right out of the dial, which can be improved by the fact that the majority of the dial is domed and three-dimensional because it is. What’s really cool to see is how the tourbillon literally orbits round the dial (some people would call that a tourbillon within a tourbillon) using world-time disk. Yes, it will block reading a number of the dial just a little bit, but no real functionality is missing with the inclusion of this tourbillon. This really is an excellent combination of components for people who really like world-timers and who also want the mechanical sophistication (and luxury standing) of a tourbillon.Adding to complete practicality in the Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic Universal Time Tourbillon is the simple fact that the movement is an automatic. This handy mechanism with its beauty and utility is the in-house-made Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 948 automatic movement. It does not have the extreme lavish finishing of some tourbillons that could be exponentially more expensive – but then again, you’re not spending that much cash while still getting exactly what many would think about a grail. This watch costs the same as a high heeled yet stock-production luxury European automobile. You might go for something more private and pricey, but you know that they will not really serve their intended purpose any better than that.
The Richemont Group along with some independent brands long represented the handful of SIHH exhibitors. However, the show’s 2016 edition added a “Carré des Horlogers” section with nine “artisan-creators and independent workshops” and expanded that number in 2017. This year, the Carré des Horlogers brands are up to no fewer than 17, with the primary exhibitors (referred to as “Historic Maisons”) at 18 for a total, again, of 35. The primary exhibitors are joined by Hermes, and the Carré des Horlogers adds five brands with Armin Strom, DeWitt, Ferdinand Berthoud, Élégante by F.P.Journe, and Romain Gauthier. See the full list of exhibitors in the image above.
From a media perspective, Baselworld has tended to spread our resources very thinly in past years with simply too much to cover at once, so with some prominent brands having moved from Baselworld to SIHH, we can hope for some balance between the shows. Around 20,000 visitors are expected this year, and the FHH promises improved facilities and connectivity in order to make our job of bringing you high quality content more efficient – so we’ll see what that’s like in January. That’s just a glimpse into our point of view in preparing for the show.
We’ll continue providing news of new products ahead of the show – if mostly only renders and official product images from the brands with basic information before being able to see the watches in person to photograph and evaluate them in their glorious and gritty reality. SIHH 2018 runs from January 15th to the 19th, and again, the last day is open to the public with tickets on sale at the SIHH website. sihh.org
