Watches and Wonders, and its predecessor SIHH, were designed as a trade event for industry insiders.
Little attention was paid to how the watch-buying public, who ultimately pay for the show, might feel at their near total exclusion from the fun.
Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille pulled out of the event five years’ ago. They both sell directly to consumers or through a small circle of franchise partners, so saw now reason to spend millions meeting retailers, and thought they could reach the global media that attends in a different way.
Watches and Wonders does reach a global audience thanks to the efforts of mainstream media journalists, bloggers and influencers (reaching around 700 million people last year, we are told), but seeing new watches on Instagram or even Watchpro is hardly the same as being in the room when they are launched with David Beckham and Julia Roberts in attendance.
I would not say the public is treated with contempt, I am just not sure they were being considered as anything other than an after thought by the event’s patron, the Fondation Haute Horlogerie, which has a very Swiss view of the world.
FHH’s stated mission is “to preserve and disseminate watchmaking knowledge”.
In the past, this has translated into preserving the status quo and disseminating watchmaking knowledge among those who already have the greatest expertise; namely, the Swiss.
That may change with this year’s Watches and Wonders, which will open its doors to the public for three days, rather than the two last year and no access at all pre-pandemic.
I am told there will be a particular focus at the April show on appealing to a younger generation. I hope this means a new cohort of punters as well as a leg-up for youthful Swiss watchmakers.
I will be interested to see if there are any discernible signs of this pivot towards the young when I step into the hallowed halls of Geneva’s Palexpo.
It is hard to imagine being confronted by anything other than the usual pale, male and stale tribe of every other year.
To be fair, I always attend Watches and Wonders during the trade-only days, so I have not experienced how the show changes once the public arrives.
I did commission an eye-witness account last year from our columnist Robin Swithinbank, who described how the public, many wrestling with pushchairs and toddlers, paid CHF 70 for entry to the exhibition, but were left disappointed by brands that flatly refused to have them on their stand.
Not being able to buy the latest watches is one thing, being forced to pay CHF 70 for a day of sweaty window shopping is quite another.
This gets to the heart of the challenge of making Watches and Wonders more open. During the mid-week trade-only days, the event is designed for business: one-on-one meetings or round tables for journalists, along with sales and marketing meetings between brands and retailers.
Executives populating the stands are experts in these types of meeting, not spending time with punters.
Multistorey booths like Rolex dedicate 90% of their real estate to these private meeting rooms, so there is little more for the public to see on the stand than there is gazing into the vitrines on the outside.
The most significant development for the public this year is that they will be able to book for touch and feel sessions with some brands. Slots will be limited, but it will be an opportunity get loupe-tight to the timepieces.
I will be gobsmacked if the public can book these sessions with the likes of Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chopard or Cartier, but most brands will be accommodating.
For Watches and Wonders to get it right, the show will effectively need to become two shows, running back-to-back, in the same location.
The brands have to share this mission and put on one event for the trade and press in the first five days and provide an entirely different experience for punters over the second three-day session.
A trade fair one day, a festival the next.
I hope they pull it off because luxury watches will not sell themselves this year. The entire industry has to get behind maintaining demand from the people who pay for it all.
Robert Corder perfectly described the attitude of Watches & Wonders towards the general public. I also remember how limited and expensive hotel space is for this event from previous Mr. Corder columns. So I offer a suggestion for the watch industry as a solution: host the show in Las Vegas, and make it a five day event open to both the watch industry and collectors! There is a huge amount of convention area space in Vegas, affordable hotel rooms, night life after the show, and it is easy to fly to/from the airport. Watches & Wonders can expand from Swiss Watch manufacturers only to include German, Japanese, and Independent watchmakers. I love the watch collecting hobby and would gladly attend a show like this if only the watch industry could come together for an amazing week of providing a hands-on experience, and public access to knowledgeable brand representatives manning the booth. Maybe Mr. Corder could publish my suggestions to he right people to get this on the calendar for next year!