The third edition of the Geneva Watch Days ended yesterday, which featured 32 watch brands, including Bulgari, Breitling, Ulysse Nardin, H. Moser & Cie., Frederique Constant, Oris, Greubel Forsey, HYT, Corum, Jacob & Co., De Bethune, Czapek and MB&F. To these was added, as in 2021, the auction house Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo.
The format has been confirmed, with a common pavilion on the lakefront open to the public and the different locations of the brands scattered around the city (hotel lounges, temporary showrooms or boutiques), designed to present the watches to small groups of guests including dealers and media, in presence or via web. Among the founders of the event, Bulgari stands out, whose CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin, explains: “For this edition we planned to limit ourselves to 25 brands (there were 17 in 2020 and 24 in 2021, ndr) but we are many more and we are already receiving requests for 2023 ».
Also for visitors. “While not having a profitability objective as happens in traditional fairs with paid admission, the number of participants was higher than in 2021”, adds Babin. Unlike the first two Geneva Watch Days, this year’s one took place at a favorable time for the Swiss watch industry. According to the latest monthly report from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH), exports in July grew by 8.3% to 2.2 billion francs compared to July 2021, the highest figure reached in a month. after the record one of October 2014. In the first seven months of the year, exports grew by 11.4% compared to the period January-July 2021.
Among the models presented by Bulgari in Geneva, the Octo Finissimo Skeleton 8 Days with an unprecedented manual movement with an 8-day power reserve, the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT in pink gold and the Octo Finissimo Automatic in two versions (one in gold). pink and one in yellow gold) and the limited editions Octo Finissimo edition Sejima (360 copies in collaboration with the famous Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima) and the Aluminum Sorayama special edition (a thousand pieces made with the collaboration of the artist Hajime Sorayama).
Also in Geneva, Frederique Constant introduced two new Classics Heart Beat Manufactures (93 pieces in rose gold, pictured above right, and 930 in steel); Ulysse Nardin proposed the avant-garde skeletonized Blast Rainbow with tourbillon and 38 colored precious stones to decorate the bezel (in the photo opposite) and two Lady Diver Rainbow, while Oris launched the Divers Sixty-Five 12H Caliber 400, diver with a retro style with a state-of-the-art in-house caliber. H. Moser & Cie. And Greubel Forsey unveiled the Streamliner Tourbillon Vantablack in red gold and the spectacular and GMT Balancier Convexe.