Once again, the end of the world did not happen. The Mayan prophecy of an apocalypse that was to see the earth open up and swallow us was not fulfilled, and nor were the cataclysmic predictions for the watch markets spread about by prophets of doom and gloom. Watch exports bearing up, especially in the high-end segment. The American market is recovering. The providential Chinese customer still likes watches, especially the most expensive ones, although his appetite is becoming somewhat more moderate. That can only be a good thing, according to the view expressed by Nick Hayek himself, President of the Extended Group Management Board and CEO of the Swatch Group. “We have to calm things down a bit”, he said recently when presenting his group’s spectacular annual results. He has just made an extremely interesting acquisition by buying up the Harry Winston brand. A fine means for the group to consolidate its feminine range on the one hand, as well as to establish itself on the much-coveted High Jewellery market. In 2011, the LVMH had kicked off a concentration phase in the field by taking over Bulgari, of which Jean-Christophe Babin has just been appointed CEO. The former boss of TAG Heuer will be able to exercise his strategic vision on a new more feminine, more luxurious and more exclusive territory.

 

Femininity

With such top management changes, ladies’ watches should enjoy fresh momentum. That was indeed the watchword at the SIHH 2013. The Salon gave pride of place to the fair sex, welcoming an unprecedented number of high-quality new models for women. Representing both a growth driver and a demanding creative exercise, feminine horology is gaining renewed independence. In the high-end segment where it flirts with jewellery, creativity and poetry were already the name of the game. The main focus of the new releases was indeed on high-end watches, but more wearable ones. Above all, they are models designed with women in mind and not merely derived from men’s watches with a little touch of mascara.

 

Virility

Conversely, this winter’s masculine creations are eminently virile and high-octane. The major trend already emerging is that 2013 will be all about cars. Rolex got the ball rolling in January, when the world’s leading watch  brand became partner and official timekeeper of the world’s leading motor-racing championship: Formula 1. The golden crown will thus consolidate its preeminent position thanks to the world’s most widely watched motorsport. A few weeks later, at the SIHH, IWC relaunched its Ingénieur model in an interpretation featuring titanium pistons, carbon bodywork and ceramic brakes – all stemming from a partnership with the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula OneTM team.  Again in the domain of ‘auto-horology’, Richard Mille has signed an agreement with the incredibly consistent rally champion Sébastien Loeb; and Hublot continues to work its partnership with Ferrari with a new complication watch. A few weeks before Baselworld, around 20 major brands had already announced their intention to take the wheel of racing cars, whether through new models or variations on existing historical pillars of their collections.

 

Chronographs

A word to the wise  : behind one chronograph lurks another. In this instance, the patent filed by Adolphe Nicole in 1844 was apparently preceded by an 1815 invention ascribed to Louis Moinet and developed for the purpose of astronomical observation. On March 21^st, the brand presented a recently discovered “compteur de tierces”. The maker’s marks identified on the caseback show that work on it began in 1815 and that it was completed in 1816. It displayed 60^ths of a second, seconds and minutes as well as hours on a 24-hour dial. The start, stop and zero-reset functions are controlled via two pushpieces. Watchmakers are indeed full of surprises.