After global recession in 2009, and the decline in sales that the luxury market endured, no one was very certain of the outcome of this year’s expo. However the show was a success with the turnout exceeding previous years. As far as indicators go, that was certainly a positive sign for 2010. The talk for most companies was how certain markets outperformed expectations particularly China, the Middle East, Germany and Switzerland. Overall the atmosphere was very positive and points towards an upturn in the luxury market. Amongst all the watch brands, Swatch Group received particular attention this year and it as considered the centre point of the show. Here is a brief summary of why that was:
Balmain watches continue to target the middle class in offering good value for money. Their pride this year is the evolution of their Balmainia line that was first released in 2006. The bezel is now decorated with notches, the left-hand rim inherits a logo decorated with two screws and the silvered dial gains some new Arabic numerals. That should be enough to rekindle some Balmainia!
Tiffany Watch Co. had the most variety on offer with a never-ending product line featuring every possible combination of dial, strap, colour, size and stone you could imagine. Their pride of the show was the Tiffany Gemea, a horological jewel with a curvaceous silhouette and a shower of diamonds that would undoubtedly have caught Audrey Hepburn’s eye in the opening scene of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’.
Longines released a range of watches featuring the innovation they developed at last year’s show. In order to put the exclusive, self-winding chronograph movement featuring a column wheel into production the company mandated the services of ETA. These new creations will more than satisfy the growing demand for mechanical chronographs and the fascination for traditional horological devices.
Blancpain’s 2010 show was a celebration of the 275th year since Jehan-Jacques Blancpain declared his profession as a watchmaker in the little town of Villeret. As such the company launched three new watches: a new grand complication featuring the world’s first carrousel-powered cathedral gong minute repeater movement; a new traditional Villeret collection; and a new addition to the L-evolution Collection featuring a week indicator. Happy birthday Blancpain!
Glashütte presented ‘The Senator Diary’, which was the probably the most important release of the whole fair. It is the first mechanical watch capable of fixing an alarm 30 days in advance. Imagine you have a crucial appointment that you absolutely cannot forget. Seize the day. Set the date. Set the time. Wind the alarm. Sit back and relax. Your Senator Diary will not let you down.
Omega’s unifying themes for BaselWorld 2010 were continuity and quality. Once again the brand was chosen to be the Official Timekeeper of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games making it the company’s 24th time. And this year was also the 35th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a coordinated space mission sealed on July 17th, 1975 by the handshake of Generals Stafford and Leonov who were both wearing Speedmasters, still the standard equipment of all astronauts.
Breguet brought a series of novel technical and design advances to Basel this year that should delight connoisseurs of prestige timepieces. The most significant innovation was the Breguet overcoil silicon balance spring that can be found within the Tradition Fusée Tourbillon (you can find the watch on page 24 of this issue.)
To top it all off the Swatch Group presented a new project: The South Building of the Peace Hotel built in 1906 in Shanghai. The Swatch Art Peace Hotel project calls for the historic building to be restored by experts in the field so that in can accommodate a broad range of functions in accordance with its proposed role as a world-class centre of contemporary art, culture and hospitality. Somewhere for art can be the ultimate luxury.
