SIHH: What does your booth say about you? Part 1
Felix ScholzAt its heart SIHH is a trade fair. Product is shown, the world watch media is wooed and deals are done with retailers. The showing, the wooing and the dealing happen mostly in the brands booths, but also in Geneva’s bars and of course the infamous ‘boat’, the location for the every-night, all-night after party. Which begins to hint at why it’s is a trade fair like no other. Because SIHH is as much a spectacle as it is a sales and marketing spin event. It’s where the Swiss watch industry shows off its finery and achievements to the world.
While ‘booth’ might technically be the right term for these spaces, the term seems a misnomer. For me a ‘booth’ evokes a 3×3 cubicle and a pull-up banner manned by a bored sales guy. The SIHH booths are not like this. They are larger than your house. They are palatial, beautifully decorated interior worlds. A less tangible, yet just as important role of the booths is to allow the brand tell their story to the world (and their competitors), to show off and to seduce. It’s keeping up with the Joneses, Swiss watch style. Read on for our breakdown on what the booths say about the brands, and their place in the industry.
The Cartier Booth
While the other 15 exhibiting brands have booths, it’s fair to say that Cartier have an entire wing. Walking into one of the two entrances you’re immediately struck by the space Cartier have to play with. Their showroom is roomy, with strategically scattered vitrines of brightly lit watches dotted around. There is no crush to see the novelties, no gaggle of iPhones. Everyone has space to explore the (very large) collection. The cool grey tones with trademark red highlights project an aura of calm confidence about Cartier’s place in the watch world.
The IWC Booth
Previous IWC booth experiences have had a decidedly Bond feel. Sharks, cars, fighter jets – have all been show-stopping centrepieces. But this year IWC pulled it back a little – and with good reason. IWC has two big pieces of news this year, and only one is a watch. The brand new Portugieser Annual Calendar was front and holographic centre, but it had to share the limelight with the architecture of the booth itself, which is a smaller version of IWC’s soon to be unveiled 40 million Franc manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Schaffhausen. Their booth actually looks like a workspace (a super cool workspace mind you). That IWC are highlighting their growth and commitment to increased watchmaking capacity is a statement more powerful than any fighter jet.
The Montblanc Booth
Montblanc are the new guys on the scene. They’ve been making a lot of noise about the aggressive ramping up of their watchmaking collections. So it only makes sense that Montblanc literally put their finest watchmaking front and centre. Walk into the booth and you’re confronted with a circular stand surrounded by the finest pieces from their Villeret facility, and manned by their senior staff (I believe the gentleman we spoke to was their head of movement design). To ram their technical capacity home Montblanc have made a 250kg replica of their impressive ExoTourbillon. Not the subtlest way to demonstrate your watch making prowess but undeniably effective.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our SIHH Booth exploration, where we examine the floral wonders of Richard Mille, the patina of Panerai and the biggest watch of SIHH.