Vintage, innovation and plenty of carats: Baselworld 2018 had it all, despite the dip in attendance.
Baselworld 2018 was one-third smaller this year, but it was no less a spectacle, with watch brands in all segments introducing technical innovations and visual splendors. Among the big brands, there were enough pieces with high complications and gemstones to turn heads, but there was also a strong shift toward everyday collections this year, demonstrating that luxury Swiss watchmaking has come down to earth. Overall, four distinct trends emerged at this year’s fair: value, vintage, ladies’ styles, and color.
Optimal value
The Swiss watch industry is seeing a recovery in exports following a two-year downturn that began in 2014. Nonetheless, brands are still focused on optimizing existing collections instead of introducing new ones, and that spells value for the consumer.
New movements, improved materials and steel versions of previously gold-only watches have made established collections seem surprisingly new. Sometimes a couple of tweaks can make all the difference. Rolex caused a stir by introducing its popular travel watch, the GMT-Master II, in a steel version for the first time.
In some cases, new watches fit the value bill. Pieces from mid-level brands like Tudor, Mido, Rado, Hamilton and TAG Heuer have come out with first-rate movements and high-end finishing at competitive prices. TAG Heuer introduced a tourbillon — a complication often priced in the six-figure range — for $20,000.
Blast from the past
Vintage was the top design trend, with almost every brand introducing models based on archival designs or celebrating anniversaries. Chopard celebrated the 25th anniversary of its Happy Sport collection with a new movement, and Omega’s 25th-anniversary Seamaster Professional Diver 300M is a full new collection.
Happy Sport.
Ladies first
Ladies’ watches are a booming segment of the industry, with many top brands developing smaller calibers designed for women’s timepieces. Seiko introduced the new Caliber 9S25 in its Grand Seiko ladies’ collection, and Chopard launched the in-house Caliber 09.01-C for the Happy Sport.
Patek Philippe, which introduced its first in-house chronograph caliber in 2009 as part of a ladies’ watch, came out with a sportier version of that model this year.
Jewelry watches were ubiquitous this year. Hublot added a new million-dollar model to its Big Bang collection, with 380 tapered baguette diamonds totaling 13.5 carats. Graff, meanwhile, wowed the market with a secret watch — a model with a cover that flips open to reveal the dial — containing 35 carats of marquise, oval, pear and baguette diamonds set cobblestone-style. Jewelry timepieces in general contained larger diamonds than in previous years, as well as more creative settings and special cuts.
Chromatic chronometers
Bold color has made its way into men’s and ladies’ watches after a decade of tone-on-tone minimalism. This applies to straps, dials and even gemstone applications. Harry Winston’s Premier Winston Candy features seven different types of colored gems, including Paraiba tourmaline. And Rado showcased colored ceramic timepieces as part of its True Thinline Nature collection.
Brands to watch
Baselworld is no longer just about the big brands and their mainstream collections. Gracing the conference in recent years has been Les Ateliers, a section for independent watch companies. The stands are smaller, as are the advertising budgets, but the technical and design innovations are no less impressive.
On the technical end of the spectrum this year, Swiss boutique watchmaker Kerbedanz introduced Maximus, the world’s largest tourbillon, with a cage measuring 27 millimeters.
A hallmark of Les Ateliers pieces is the use of openworked movements to display the watchmaker’s prowess. The dial of Arnold & Son’s Chronometer No. 36, for example, shows the two barrel drums, tourbillon escapement, gear train wheels and bridges, arranged on multiple levels.
Another strong trend among independent brands is the memento mori or skull motif, well-represented this year by Strom’s Agonium Memento Carpe Diem. There were also plenty of gem-set watches. Giberg’s Niura, an openworked double-barrel flying tourbillon, is set with 2,156 diamonds and sports an elaborate bow-motif bracelet attachment containing 76 rubies.
The main quality these up-and-coming independents share is sheer creativity. MB&F perhaps epitomized that spirit best this year when it displayed The Fifth Element — a large piece that is part table clock, part sculpture and part spaceship, co-created with high-end clock specialist L’Epée. Technically, it’s also a weather station: It has a thermometer, barometer and hygrometer (it measures humidity). Its design resembles a UFO, complete with an alien sitting on the rotating clockworks at the center of the base. Creativity doesn’t get much more out-of-this-world than that.
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