GENEVA — Whereas Watches and Wonders dominated the primary week of April, displays and different occasions flourished all through the town for manufacturers who didn’t participate within the truthful.
With all eyes on Geneva as the worldwide capital of worldwide watchmaking, manufacturers took benefit of the chance to current their newest designs and improvements, whereas conversations turned to latest acquisitions and anniversaries.
Damiani’s Timekeeping Jewels
Damiani returned to Geneva to reassert its legitimacy and status within the excessive watchmaking house – with excessive jewels that give time as well.
The Italian jeweler was among the many 47 exhibitors of the Haute Jewels Geneva showcase, held on the InterContinental Lodge at the side of Watches and Wonders. Organizers stated that the present attracted 38 p.c extra guests than the 2024 version.
Constructing on final 12 months’s centenary celebrations, which included an exhibition titled “Damiani 100 x 100 Italiani” unveiling one-of-a-kind creations, Damiani pulled out all of the stops with its standout “Margherita” excessive jewellery secret watch.
Known as “Margherita Desert Backyard,” the cuff-like timepiece in yellow and white gold was paying homage to a blooming garden and set with clear, brown and yellow fancy diamonds, in addition to emeralds mixed in quite a lot of cuts to create the a number of daisies blossoming all through. The watch featured two dials hidden behind the central daises to be set on two distinct time zones.
A finalist of the 2024 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, it retails for 213,000 Swiss francs.
The Damiani Margherita Desert Backyard secret watch.
Courtesy of Damiani
This distinctive creation was flanked by new iterations of Damiani’s hero “Mimosa” watches, a part of the jewellery household of the identical identify. The bejeweled quartz motion timepieces got here in new colorways, together with forest inexperienced and lacquer crimson, and had been embellished with diamonds.
The home — which in fiscal 2024 had gross sales of 380 million euros, up 10 p.c in comparison with 2023 — described the road’s design ethos as “obvious chaos” for the seemingly haphazard placement of gems. The 32mm model of the timepiece that includes a soleillé dial boasted 3.44 carats of diamonds organized in two rows across the bezel to create a blossom-like sample, whereas a sister model was enriched with a diamond pavé dial for a complete of 4.03 carats.
Philipp Plein Expands His Vary
Philipp Plein is getting extra severe, and extra pragmatic, in his excessive watchmaking enterprise.
The entrepreneur returned to Geneva for the third 12 months in a row to bow new additions to the rising household of Swiss-made timepieces, realizing he wants to supply a particular worth proposition amid a extremely aggressive, and conversative, business.
“We wouldn’t have the historical past…of established manufacturers, so we’ve to push on totally different designs…and an attention-grabbing worth positioning,” he stated, noting how Philipp Plein is reportedly the bestselling watch model on Farfetch, for instance. “I like the undertaking. I’m actually behind it, and I believe that makes the success of the story,” Plein stated.
After setting the tone — a loud and flamboyant one — with the primary two releases, the 2025 assortment included three novelties such because the King Phantom, Crypto King and Diamond Queen timepieces, or “timemachines” as they’re billed chez Plein.
These are anticipated to faucet into the rising area of interest of Plein’s watch clients.
“We actually attempt to translate the thought of the model into it. We’re a enjoyable model, and we’re actually focusing on our shopper. We’ve the fitting client base now and we’re actually finishing the provide…to cater additionally to the broader market,” Plein stated.
Cue the King Phantom watch coming in a 46mm K9 crystal case, which aligned completely with the daring ethos of the model in a barely subtler manner. The skeletonized Landeron 20 computerized motion reveals itself by an open-work dial and see-through caseback and ensures an influence reserve of 75 hours. Accessible in a variety of zesty colours, together with orange and acid inexperienced, the watch is priced between 4,700 and 4,900 euros relying on the colorway.
Philipp Plein’s King Phantom watch.
Cesare Gualdoni/Courtesy of Philipp Plein
Though not solely a brand new form, the Crypto Queen girls’s watch, first launched with Plein’s debut excessive watchmaking assortment in 2023, bought a major glow-up.
The unique tonneau case was embellished with 42 dazzling diamonds for six.80 carats within the new Diamond Queen on-demand timepiece set on a rubber strap. Powered by a Swiss-made quartz motion, the watch, accessible in yellow or rose gold, additionally is available in a joyful model that includes rainbow gems.
The OG Plein timepiece, the Crypto King, additionally expanded to new colorways, corresponding to orange, emerald inexperienced and deep blue.
Breitling to Revive Gallet
After snapping up Common Genève in 2023, Breitling introduced the acquisition of reputed watchmaker Gallet, a model that’s formally turning 200 subsequent 12 months however traces its roots again to the fifteenth century.
Based in 1826 by watchmaker Julien Gallet in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the model grew to become greatest recognized for its chronometers for racing, aviation and expeditions. It was dormant following the quartz disaster of the Seventies.
A trio of Gallet MultiChron Clamshell watches, dated circa 1938.
Courtesy of Breitling
Amongst Gallet’s greatest recognized items is the stopwatch chronograph that measured the Wright brothers’ first motorized flight in 1903, now within the Nationwide Air and Area Museum in Washington, D.C.
Calling the transfer “a pure subsequent step in Breitling’s enlargement,” CEO Georges Kern stated the corporate’s “imaginative and prescient is long-term — reviving Gallet as a powerful model in watchmaking, whereas honoring its legacy of journey and innovation in chronographs.”
With new fashions anticipated to land in 2026, Gallet shall be positioned as a luxurious entry-level sister model for Breitling.
The GPHG Turns 25
Forward of its twenty fifth version in November, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève has introduced the reintroduction of the “Mechanical Clock” class to its lineup of gongs and that the eco-innovation prize launched final 12 months would stay. Calendar issues may even now be included within the “Males’s Complication” class.
The organizers of the prize, which is taken into account the Oscars of the watchmaking world, additionally introduced that the GPHG Academy had handed the 1,000-member mark. Based in 2020, the Academy consists of consultants aiming to contribute to the worldwide affect of watchmaking. Members are added by a cooptation course of.
It’s this physique that selects the eligible timepieces and nominates the six finalists in every class. It additionally contributes to figuring out the winners alongside the 12 months’s jury.
A Day to Rejoice Timekeeping
Watchmaking is staking its declare because the twelfth artwork. After being acknowledged as a part of UNESCO’s cultural heritage in 2020, it’s now getting its day.
The primary version of World Watch Day shall be celebrated on Oct. 10. The date was chosen as a nod to the ten:10 place given to look at palms when timepieces are introduced.
Underpinning the initiative is a newly minted nonprofit affiliation, with founders together with the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, the Basis of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, in addition to media and horological societies from Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
The inaugural 2025 version shall be streamed on-line, one timezone at a time. Media, associations, collectors’ membership and content material creators will discover subjects starting from tradition, science and sports activities to economics, conventional craftsmanship and up to date artwork.
