Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024, a watch fair, will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from Tuesday, April 9th to Monday, April 15th. Masamasa Hirota, editor-in-chief of Chronos Japan, reports on this major watch industry event in a relaxed diary format. On April 9th, the first day of the fair, he visited Cartier, Patek Philippe, Chopard, and more.
Text & Photographs by Masayuki Hirota (Chronos-Japan)
[Article published on January 10, 2024]
"Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024 Diary by Masamasa Hirota, Editor-in-Chief of Chronos Japan"
http://www.webchronos.net/blog/113426/
April 9th, opening day of Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024
April 9th, I woke up in the morning. I ate the yogurt I bought at Migros. The hotel was about 1 km away from the Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024 venue. It was possible to walk there, but I decided not to.
I arrived at the venue at 8:30. It was suddenly crowded, but I was able to get in within 3 minutes. The reason for the decrease in attendance compared to last year was that the number of retail participants was limited. I heard that they restricted attendance to days other than business negotiation days. However, since the number of days open to the public has been increased to three days, I think the total number of participants will be higher than last year.
Starting at 9:45, we'll be speaking with Arnaud Chastain of Chanel. This year, he's introduced products that are sure to appeal to Chanel enthusiasts, but his personal love for Chanel is brought to the forefront, which is rather refreshing. "Why did you choose scissors as a motif?" he replied, "Because I love them, haha." And the quality of the design will surely appeal to many watch lovers.
I meet all kinds of people at the smoking area. I meet a lot of people there, so I drop by whenever I can. Starting this year, Laurent-Perrier has set up a booth in the smoking area. Lots of people are drinking from the time it opens at 11am. Being a serious person, I don't drink until the last minute. What a shame.
Afterwards, we went to Laurent Ferrier, not Laurent Perrier, to see the new models. In addition to Christian Ferrier, Laurent Ferrier also attended. We listened to an explanation. The cover of the moon disc is made of enamel. It's like plique-à-jour, but technically it's not. They tried various things, but apparently switched to this just before the announcement. The precision of the details is typical of Laurent Ferrier. Also, the dial side of the movement (the back side of the date display) is truly beautifully made.
It's a Cartier presentation straight out of the box. Needless to say, the Tortue chronograph is outstanding. I'll be modest about it, as I'll lose my livelihood if I say too much, but the design of the movement, which emphasizes symmetry, is impressive. If they were going to go to such lengths to create it, I personally would have liked the regulator to be a little more elaborate. However, considering maintainability, an etachron-style design might be fine.
The one that really caught my eye was the "Panthère LM." It's not just the design, but the bulging design has a subtle retro feel. Also, it seems there's no other manufacturer that can match Cartier in creating such a wide variety of bracelets. Each one has its own unique flavor.
She also makes an appearance at Chopard. I'm a big fan of Chopard, and the 2024 "LUC" collection is amazing. Following last year's "XPS 1860," I was blown away by this year's "Carte Fleurier." Even though it looks so ordinary, the "Carte Fleurier" is great. It's surprising, like finding out that the plain-looking girl with glasses is actually beautiful.
Incidentally, one of the reasons I respect Chopard as a company is that they are not stingy in anything they do. The food and drink are very extravagant, and Chopard's kiwi juice is probably the best at the fair.
Then there was Patek Philippe. While they basically only added color variations, the details remain as excellent as ever. Especially the dials. This is possible thanks to the presence of the dial manufacturer Flückiger under their umbrella. I'll leave the details here for now, as I want to write an article about it.
I also spoke with Catherine Rénier, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. The new "Duomètre" is great, isn't it? It's not cheap, though. "The actual product arrived a week before the trade fair. I'm pleased that it was better than I expected," she said. The company has continued to make huge capital investments, and it seems that these investments are finally paying off. The price has gone up, though.
After Vacheron Constantin, I went for dinner. I plan to take another look at the company's products tomorrow. I spoke with many people involved at the venue. I didn't ask about individual watches on the first day, as it would be rude and I'd be laughed at as an amateur. We just exchanged opinions. The reason many people said 2024 was going to be dull is probably because each company postponed the announcement of their major models. I can imagine the reason, but I'll write about it another time. Instead, it seems like they're putting a lot of effort into the exteriors.
After that, I had dinner with a certain company. He was really interesting, and the wine was delicious. I returned to the hotel at 12 o'clock. I worked, which is unusual for me, so I couldn't eat until dinner. I'm sure I'll lose weight, I hope I do (plans)
