SIHH 2012

Every year in January, members of the watch world – retailers, brand heads, watch makers, and other professionals – make their way to Geneva, Switzerland for five days of horology happiness. They make this trip for Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, or as we know it, SIHH. This year, the event was held from 16{+t}{+h}- 20{+t}{+h} January. More than twenty shows of SIHH have taken place so far and there's promise of many more over the years.

This year, there were 18 exhibitors at the event showcasing their best products for the year, some of which would have involved years of research and development. But there was enough and more space for them to show off, as the event was held over 30,000 square metres of exhibition area. Among the 12,500 invitees to the event, who were international retailers, journalists and brand representatives, 1,200 members were from the media and 1,500 guests represented points of sale. The number of attendees was up by 10 per cent from the year before.

Exhibitions

The 2012 edition of SIHH featured a few exhibitions of interesting themes. The first showcased works from the enamel and horology collections of the Musée d'Art et D'histoire de Genève. This was a walk through of the history of watchmaking in a single space. A must-see for those who have a passion for history and horology. There was also an exhibition of Conceptual Watch Photography – Plaza Watch and Plaza Magazine, which the guests could admire as well. This exhibition displayed works by award-winning photographers in London, Paris, Dubai, Munich and Geneva which were taken for Plaza Watch (a magazine focused on watches) and Plaza Magazine, focussing on fashion and design.

Highlights

The Master Control Line from the Manufacture of Jaeger –LeCoultre is celebrating it's 20{+t}{+h} anniversary, and they added three new timepieces to the collection to commemorate this event; the Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon, Master Control 20{+t}{+h} Anniversary and Master Ultra Thin Réserve de Marche. The Master Control Line is known for the 1000 Hours Control. A. Lange & Söhne also introduced some fabulous pieces with a particular theme, the Lange family of watches. Guests could marvel at the reworked Grand Lange 1, Lange 1 Time Zone and Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar. The other addition was the Datograph Up/Down. These pieces are now on a world tour, travelling to the brand's seven boutiques. Piaget added to its Altiplano series as well. IWC unveiled a new booth with an aviation theme to mark the redone Pilot's Watch collection. The new booth added an element of spectacle to the launch of these masculine watches. Roger Dubuis launched its Pulsion Collection at SIHH this year, a line of watches that are quite masculine as well.

SIHH 2013 will be held from 21{+s}{+t} -25{+t}{+h} January and the excitement to see what the brands will have to offer is building already. SIHH is built on attention to tradition without compromising on innovation and as the years go by, this is the ideology to which the event and its exhibitors will adhere.

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