Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) will celebrate its first quarter of a century when it opens its doors to the luxury watch industry in Geneva on Monday.
Fabienne Lupo, chairwoman and managing director of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, explains the history of the show in a four-minute interview filmed for the occasion.
This longevity confirms choices made in 1991, when exhibitors took the decision to stage an exclusive fair, reserved for watchmaking professionals. At the time just five exhibitors shared 4,500sq mt in a space created to mimic the architectural concept of Pace Vendome in Paris . Now 16 watchmaking titans take up a space ten times larger. This anniversary edition gets the 2015 horological year off to a spectacular start, when it opens on Monday January 19th at Palexpo in Geneva.
The original exhibiting brands set out to organise an event where professionals within the sector, representatives from distribution networks and the media could meet in a relaxed and welcoming environment. The result has exceeded all expectations. Now scheduled in January, before 2009 SIHH ran concurrently with Baselworld, the exhibit leads the luxury watch industry calendar.
Previous editions of SIHH have focused on certain themes and 2015 is no exception, with a spotlight on the watchmaking workshops where watches are expertly crafted and cared for during their lifespan. Participants will be given the opportunity to take apart, then reassemble a watch movement.
SIHH 2015 (19-23 January) is organised by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie on behalf of the SIHH Exhibitors Committee.
SIHH 2015 – 25 years of magic from Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie on Vimeo.
