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WORLDTEMPUS - 28 February 2011

A mere two months separate the biggest watch trade fairs - which could well be termed the Grand Slams of Horology: The weeks in which Geneva (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, Geneva Time Exhibition and satellite presentations) and Basel (Baselworld and parallel showrooms) are on undoubtedly represent the two biggest dates of the year. Yet they are so different.
In Geneva, luxury and space were the concepts behind the advent of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in 1990; Basel was, and still is, too big and crowded, but its Babylonic effervescence contributes to the unique aura of an event first staged in 1917.
So, what lies ahead? Who will be the protagonists and stars of the city on the Rhine? New products for Basel are already being unveiled through press releases and as-yet embargoed information - but there are still a lot of question marks: will Rolex come up with an updated Daytona Cosmograph? What kind of new concept watch is TAG Heuer going to introduce? Which incident will restless Jean-François Ruchonnet induce this year after setting his Snyper booth on fire last year?

Remains of the winter
The beginning of springtime in Basel will certainly show a lot of inventiveness through independent watchmakers and iconoclastic products from niche brands eager to draw attention to themselves - but there will also be an extension of the trends on exhibit in Geneva in January: the neo-retro/new-vintage craze, streamlined models conceived during the apex of the European economic crisis to satisfy consumers looking for more affordable price tags and classic looks appealing to emergent Chinese aficionados.
So, one month before Basel and one month after Geneva, here are the remains, anecdotes, and side stories of the winter gathering in the Helvetian Calvinistic city:
MILLE'S TOUCH: Richard Mille struck gold with the launch of the RM027 in 2010 because Rafael Nadal won all three Grand Slams he played since adopting the ultra-light $525,000 tourbillon for his own wrist. Mille's Midas touch returned in 2011 with golfer Bubba Watson, who won his first golf event immediately after the presentation of his magnesium-aluminium RM038 golf watch at the Palexpo.
OLYMPIC CHOICE: While some were showing their golden touches, Panerai opted for bronze. It had been done before, but "Il Bronzo" was a major talking point and suited the vintage trend omnipresent at the event - the watch even gains patina with time to make it look, well, older.
AFTER HOURS: The after-dinner bar/disco/lounge that the SIHH offered in the old days, representing a casual meeting point for watchmaking's "family," was missing for the second year in a row; there's no doubt that visitors to the fair look a lot fresher without those long and sometimes excessive nights, but most still complain that a lot of business was conducted in the after-hours environment.
TROIKA TELLER: All three brands under Georges Kern's umbrella chose to tell a story related to three different iconic locations as a way of focusing on their respective main lines - Portofino's dolce vita for IWC (the new Portofino collection), Hamptons seaside chic for Baume & Mercier (the new Capeland line), and Monte-Carlo's casino ambiance for Roger Dubuis (the launch of La Monegasque). Will Kathmandu's time ever come?
QUARTZ RESISTANCE: Despite all the mechanical wonders seen in Geneva, one quartz timepiece attracted almost more attention - Jorg Hysek's avant-garde Slyde was surely one of the stars of the week and will perhaps go down in history as the first quality watch of the iPod generation. But it is a concept that could also re-open Pandora's Box, since it is probably easily replicated by Asia's electronic giants.

CONAN-LIKE: Is there a CEO more accessible than Stephen Forsey? The co-founder of Greubel Forsey, who bears a resemblance to U.S. entertainer Conan O'Brian, made himself available for all kinds of interviews and enquiries. Despite what must have been taxing for his high level of intelligence, he patiently explained time and again the intricate complexity of his brand's cerebral tourbillonesque timepieces.
"GREASE" WASN'T THE WORD: The vocabulary at this year's SIHH prominently centered around the same theme - the past: "heritage," "classic," "tradition," "historic," "tribute," "patrimony," "vintage," "re-issue"…
TRUE COLORS: The most bizarrely christened timepiece unveiled during the week had to be Ladoire's Mr. Green from the brand's Black Widow line. Will there be a "Miss Clockwork Orange" and a "Mellow Yellow Stepfather" as well? A few more colors and somewhere, over the rainbow, a tutti-frutti timepiece is to be expected. Oh, wait, Hublot already did that.
PARTY TIME: From all the parties thrown during the week, the one held by Baume & Mercier probably deserves the biggest round of applause: in the space of just a few days, a Hamptons beach was set up in a 5,000-square-meter area with the aid of 75 tons of sand. Celebrities included.

SPORT AND SOME: An array of champions attended Geneva's watch week: seven-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb at the Marvin booth at the Geneva Time Exhibition; former Formula 1 champions Michael Schumacher (Audemars Piguet) and Alain Prost (at TAG Heuer's Mastering Time exhibition); the Laureus constellation associated with IWC, particularly soccer icons Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Laurent Blanc and tennis champions Boris Becker, Richard Krajicek and Cedric Pioline.

JET-LAGGED: The SIHH attracted scores of visitors from the other side of the world, but the biggest time traveler had to be Richard Mille, who flew in directly from Melbourne, where he gave a press conference alongside Rafael Nadal on the eve of the Australian Open.

SUSHI-MANIA: What was the most sought-after dish during lunch hour at the SIHH? Sushi has topped visitors' preferences since it began to be included in the menu several years ago.
STAT OF LIBERTY: Statistics are like bikinis: they show a lot, but not everything. However, the estimated 25 percent of the high-end watch market being consumed by China has to be considered the most relevant statistic for luxury brands at this time - a liberating stat that must have some of them crying "freedom."
FERRIER BOAT: A lot of significant retailers and collectors are jumping onto the Laurent Ferrier bandwagon, especially since it won the prestigious Men's Watch award at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve in November. The brand's booth at the GTE was frequently crowded and a parade of powerful distributors seem to have discovered the mystery of the new Galet Secret timepiece.
GEOPOLITICAL TIME: One of the star timepieces at the SIHH was Vacheron Constantin's Patrimony Traditionelle Heures du Monde, boasting no less than 37 different time zones - including quarters and half-hours. More adequate in this rapidly evolving world might be a computer-controlled display attached to the Internet, since every other week there's a different country in political turmoil - which sometimes even results in shifted time zones.
VIRTUAL GADGETERY: Capitalizing on the success of smartphones, which allow the possibility of changing applications by sliding a finger across a tactile screen, HD3 surprised the watch world by introducing the Slyde. The idea of uniting information and entertainment in timepieces is not new, and several other brands showing at the Geneva Time Exhibition took the gadget route as well. Snyper also appeals to the accessory-oriented consumer, with a case featuring two side-bars that can be used to bear several items ranging from a laser beam device to a golf tee. And Ritmo Mondo's Puzzle provides a nice way of passing time when stuck in traffic.
Now, let's see what kind of trends and anecdotes will come out of Basel; stay tuned to Worldtempus for full coverage…