Second Live Report from Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH)Geneve
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Exclusive interview with Mr. Nicolas Garzouzi, CEO Middle East of Audemars Piguet
What is the SIHH impact on a premium brand such as yours in the Middle East?
We consider our relationship with our retailers to be a very important pillar for our continual success. The SIHH 2014 offers a valuable opportunity for us to enhance this relationship and create tighter bonds with our partners.
What are your expectations at SIHH 2014?
We’ve had a great year 2013, we know our partners have adhered to the changes that were made with regards to the brand’s different facets – products, marketing, etc… So we are now looking forward to presenting them with the plan for 2014 and getting their continued support. Audemars Piguet has always valued its relationships with its partners, and this is the time of the year when we can share our vision with them.
What are the foreseen trends and directions in Watches in 2014? Any particular trends that your brand is keen on in terms of movement and or designs?
2014 is a transition year for the industry and even more so for Audemars Piguet. We don’t forecast any major changes at this stage, most brands will keep focusing on their core messages while we will be consolidating our strategy.
What are your “star” novelties for the SIHH? Please provide us with high res photos and technical specs.
The Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon in white ceramic:
“Bright, white, sleek and powerful, the Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon to be presented for the first time at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie 2014 (SIHH) in Geneva, is a watch for avant-garde collectors and connoisseurs that brooks no compromise in either technical or aesthetic terms.”
When would you expect the SIHH novelties to be available at boutiques and POS in the Middle East?
Novelties are delivered simultaneously worldwide in our network of boutiques.
Which of your watch models is the most popular in the Middle East? And Why?
The Royal Oak Offshore line is the most popular model in the Middle-East because of its recognizable unique design, virile look, and surely reliable movement.
What are the challenges that you are facing as watch makers/ retailers under the global and regional economical circumstances?
The Haute Horology industry is evolving daily and one of our main challenges as a watchmaker in the region is to become the manufacture of reference where people want to come and work. We are passionate about developing young talents and our partnership with the Ecole Technique de la Vallée de Joux and our own internal training program, are key factors in achieving this objective.
Exclusive interview with Mr. Alban Belloir, Managing Director of Van Cleef & Arpels MEA & India
What is the SIHH impact on a premium brand such as yours in the Middle East?
SIHH is a unique and exclusive platform to reveal to press, partners and final clients our latest novelties as well as our philosophy and Poetry of Time.
More than a launch opportunity, it is an annual rendez-vous with experts and connoisseurs, when we can transmit our identity and unique territory of expression.
What are your expectations at SIHH 2014?
SIHH 2014 will surely retain the attention of the friends of the Maison, with a combination of creativity, audacity and innovation.
Each timepiece, from iconic to exclusive, will convey an invitation to dream.
Exceptional pieces will display all the watchmaking savoir-faire associated with Van Cleef & Arpels, from the Poetic Complications that combine technical and aesthetic prowess to the “Metiers d’arts” which transform each timepiece into a captivating spectacle.
L’Ecole Van Cleef & Arpels, as very unique asset to our Maison, will be well represented as a main part of our identity and will to share and transmit.
What are the foreseen trends and directions in Watches in 2014? Any particular trends that your brand is keen on in terms of movement and or designs?
Authenticity, exclusivity, aesthetics and sophistication will remain key words in 2014, both in terms of movement or designs.
Our fast-growing and expert clientele is looking for singularity and reassurance through creative and timeless designs, which become iconic over time, such as Alhambra, Charms, Pont des Amoureux or Ballerine Enchantee, which recently won Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Geneve in the Ladies’ Complications Watch category.
When would you expect the SIHH novelties to be available at boutiques and POS in the Middle East?
SIHH novelties will be gradually revealed in our boutiques or exhibitions throughout the year 2014.
Which of your watch models is the most popular in the Middle East? And Why?
Short after winning Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Geneve, Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux has immediately performed as a best-seller in the Poetic Complications collection.
It is a signature piece which conveys a romantic story about two lovers who meet in Paris on Pont des Arts and display time in a very poetic way.
With its double retrograde movement and contre-jour enameling technique, it combines technicality and beauty.
Charms is another icon of Van Cleef & Arpels, which embodies the values of luck and femininity, so dear to the Maison universe.
Featuring the four-leaf clover as a lucky charm, it perfectly matches our Alhambra and Perlee jewelry creations for an everyday wear.
What are the challenges that you are facing as watch makers/ retailers under the global and regional economic circumstances?
We actually see more opportunities than challenges in a very dynamic regional economic environment, where luxury watches are among the fastest-growing categories.
We are confident that the increase of the Maison awareness and visibility in the Middle East will contribute to the development of our timepieces business, especially in the segment of jewelry watches.
Exclusive interview with Mr. Jean-Marc Jacot, CEO of Parmigiani Fleurier SA
What is the impact of SIHH on your brand in the Middle-East?
The SIHH is a great opportunity to meet with all the important people in the retail and media fields and show them our newest products in exclusivity. The fair has an important impact throughout the year because it will define the brand’s key happenings for the next 12 months. In a key zone as is the Middle-East, we are especially keen at getting our message across with clarity.
What are your expectations at SIHH 2014?
To increase our distribution network
To achieve a positive impact and very enthusiastic reception of our new collection
To achieve a high turnover and secure the business of year 2014
What are the foreseen trends and directions in Watches in 2014? Any particular trends that your brand is keen on in terms of movement and or design?
We are not following any trends. What we follow in the designing of our products and movement elaboration are the principles and philosophy that have guided our whole collection of watches until today. Every year, our novelties are complimentary with the existing collection. Alongside the research for aesthetical beauty, we especially aim for consistency, homogeneity and complementarity between all our products.
What are your star novelties this year?
We won’t reveal any of the SIHH novelties before the fair starts.
When would you expect the SIHH novelties to be available at boutiques and POS in the Middle-East?
March 2014
Which of your watch models is the most popular in the Middle-East and why?
The Tonda 1950 is the most popular model in the Middle-East. It is our leader product around the world and since the Middle-East is a region that so many tourists of the world travel through, it is representative of our international results.
What are the challenges that you are facing as watch makers / retailers under the global and regional economical situation?
To make the most beautiful product at the fairest price. To satisfy customers that are more and more numerous. To establish the brand as perennial at an international scale in following our philosophy.
NOVELTIES:
Piaget presents Altiplano 38 mm 900P
Neither entirely a movement nor exactly a case – or rather both at once: introducing the Altiplano 38 mm 900P, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch. Merging the hand-wound calibre with the case elements, it is designed as a single entity in order to achieve record-breaking slenderness at just 3.65 mm thin. Representing a crowning achievement in over half a century of virtuoso skills displayed in the realm of ultra-thin watchmaking where Piaget reigns supreme, it conveys the excellence of the two integrated Manufactures run by the Maison. Places where the skills of the watchmakers, case constructors and designers converge in giving life to this masterpiece of reliability and precision.
Ralph Lauren Introduces the Automotive Flying Tourbillon
For 2014, Ralph Lauren revisits his distinctive passion for adventurous design and exceptional handcraftsmanship with a new Automotive timepiece that features one of watchmaking’s most prestigious complications, the Flying Tourbillon. Inspired by Ralph Lauren’s 1938 Type 57SC Bugatti Atlantic Coupe and reflecting the utmost in micro-mechanical achievement, the Ralph Lauren Automotive Flying Tourbillon exemplifies the brand’s superb marriage of high-precision timekeeping and masculine sporting elegance. Housed within a 45mm shot-blasted black stainless steel case, and operating at a frequency of 28,800vph, the exclusive RL167 self-winding caliber reduces the effects of gravity to achieve absolute precision. Through the sapphire-crystal case back, the 28-jewel RL167 caliber may be admired for its off-centered gold-plated micro-rotor and exquisite decoration in vertical Côtes de Genève.
THE TONDAPOMELLATO
Parmigiani Fleurier has announced its new partnership with Pomellato, the prestigious Italian jeweller, combining the exceptional expertise of both companies and redefining the realm of ladies' watches. The alliance of these two companies from Fleurier and Milan finds concrete expression in a pure and elegant ladies' watch by Parmigiani Fleurier illuminated by a dial with the Pomellato signature. Quite logically, it was the Tonda 1950 that was chosen as the first model to bear the colours of the Italian jeweller. Firstly, because it is Parmigiani Fleurier's iconic model and represents the essence of the brand, even down to the reference in its name – 1950 was the year Michel Parmigiani was born. Secondly, because the simple design and clean lines of this ultra-thin watch - recently launched in a stone-set ladies' version - provide the necessary breadth for new interpretations, in this case for a Pomellato "exterior". The TondaPomellato is exclusively available in rose gold; the ultimate embodiment of femininity and the signature material of the Milanese jeweller, rose gold also features in the redesigned hands and indices. This new line is available in four dial exteriors with a precision setting adorning each version.
RM 011 CARBON NTPT® AUTOMATIC WATCH
Richard Mille has announced a brand new material to watchmaking – NTPT® (North Thin Ply Technology) carbon – to create the first RM 011 NTPT® carbon case. Originally developed for the sails of racing yachts, NTPT® carbon has quickly become a must-have material in nautical circles. Sails manufactured from this substance are highly resistant and light, and have thus enabled the giants of the seas to claim the finishing lines of the world’s greatest regattas. NTPT® carbon, which has become a reference in composite materials, has been used for Formula 1 car chassis for the last two seasons, and in aeronautics for the fuselage of the future Solar Impulse 2 aircraft. The NTPT® fully protects the RMAC1 automatic caliber, which is recognizable by its large date at 12 o’clock, its month display at 4 o’clock and its flyback chronograph. The movement, made entirely of titanium, has a 55-hour power reserve provided by its double-barrel system wound by a variable geometry rotor.
The new Aquatimer Watches from IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN
The evolution of the diver’s watches from IWC continues. The 2014 Aquatimer collection from IWC Schaffhausen comes with inspired technical features, even more in-house calibres and a patented IWC bracelet quick-change system. For the first time ever, a haute horlogerie complication in the form of a perpetual calendar with a large digital date display appears in this watch family. Bronze likewise makes its debut as a metal for the case. The Swiss watch manufacturer is also launching four special editions in support of the work of the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Cousteau Society.
Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronographs
An absolute concentration of power and urban chic, this latest addition to the Clifton collection by Baume & Mercier, is a self-winding chronograph, and reveals its full potential when confronted with the trials of everyday life. Stability characterizes the Clifton watch, with its sturdy, understated 43 mm steel case. Like all the pieces of this well-balanced collection, it contains a Swiss-made self-winding mechanical movement for reliability, endurance and precision (ETA 7750 Caliber). Manufactured to the highest Swiss watchmaking standards, the movement can be seen through the sapphire crystal case back. In addition to hours and minutes, the timepiece shows the day and date in an open display at the three o’clock position.
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