The Hong Kong Clock and Watch Fair has closed its doors, so it’s time to examine the facts and figures, highlights, trends, and what this might mean for the future of an industry that has been doing considerable head-scratching lately.

Salon de Time hall at the Hong Kong Clock and Watch Fair

Once the doors of any great trade event shut, highlights take shape, and subjective and quasi-objective memories emerge from the brouhaha of impressions, allowing for predictions of sorts. So here goes…

Given the general atmosphere of unease in global markets, the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair (HKWCF) turned out to be quite a reassuring place. The organisers attracted over 650 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions. Over 16,000 trade buyers from 95 countries attended the physical fair, plus over 19,000 public visitors, an uptick from last year’s figures.

Thanks to the online Click2Match platform, the actual physical event will continue for a few more days.

Shanghai watches

Shifting focus

Those of us who are concerned mostly with mechanical watches – referred to arguably erroneously as “luxury” timepieces due to their higher price point – almost immediately seek out the booths offering such wares as designed and manufactured in China.

Westerners have long looked down on these “upstarts,” with their acres of CNC machines, stunning production volumes and, of course, tendency to borrow from existing designs. True, companies like Sea-Gull did produce cheap movements that many considered quite unreliable, but dynamic industries learn self-correction, and the Chinese are very dynamic and open to learning.

Add a dose of self-confidence and national pride, and you get guochao (国朝, the “national trend,” which gives Chinese watch brands clear direction.

This means brands tend to focus on cultural symbolism on their dials. The result may well create strong competition with Western luxury brands for approval in the Chinese market, and by extension much of the Asian market. Expensive watches featuring what amounts to banal chinoiserie may well be rejected.

Enamel Dragon by Beijing watches

Consider the Beijing Enamel Dragon. The dragon’s symbolism runs deep in Chinese lore. It’s not static, since there were many dragons throughout Chinese history. Here, for instance, it has five claws, representing none other than the Emperor.

Dejavu by Present Watch

Another example would be the Dejavu by Present Watch, featuring three butterflies on the dial. Who could imagine that it is a philosophical thought experiment found in the Zhuangzi, a seminal work in Taoist philosophy: Zhuangzi (the alleged author) dreamt he had turned into a butterfly. He wakes up to find he is still Zhuangzi, so he didn’t know whether he had become Zhuangzi’s butterfly or Zhuangzi who had become a butterfly in his dream.

The dream exemplifies the essence of Taoist philosophy, which attempts to dissolve dualities and give life, if not meaning, then at least ease.

The special event for Shanghai Watch’s 70th anniversary also exemplified this new sense of self. The roots of Chinese watchmaking today stretch back to 1955 and the country’s industrialization, when a watch remained a necessity.

China had watchmakers but no native watches, so cities launched a competition to build a movement, from which Shanghai emerged the winner—and as a side note, Tianjin’s calibre ultimately became Sea-Gull.

Still growing

When visiting the HKWCF, those of us who track the trials, tribulations, and victories of the mechanical watch must put aside our hubris and plunge into the “real world” of things you can put on your wrist. The plain fact remains: Quartz watches cost far less to make and buy and can look just as aesthetically pleasing.

And ever since the internet achieved ubiquity and personal computing was miniaturized, smartwatches have forged a short and fast path to the top.

The increasing concern for health issues, coupled with a need for self-optimization in a frantic world, has further promoted so-called wearables, which also claimed space at the Salon de Time.

Saga, collaborating with Honor Connect, launched a smartwatch featuring the market’s smallest 35mm delicate smartwatch movement, designed specifically for women. It comes equipped with health monitoring, 109 sports modes, 10-day battery life, and IP68 dust and water resistance.

Fila smart watch

Local company Longitude Limited presented Fila’s elegant smartwatch, which helps wearers track calories burned during physical activities. That a fashion brand adds a wearable to its portfolio perfectly suits our times. Just note that it’s not a classic wristwatch.

Oskron Link2Care

One of the more intriguing developments involved adding elements from TCM, traditional Chinese medicine. German brand Oskron displayed its Link2Care solution, described as a “Western-Chinese Prevention” smartwatch. 

TCM chart

It features “Five Organs Digital Pulse Diagnosis,” promising organ health scoring, health monitoring, personalized wellness guidance, and health warnings.

To back its output, this “watch” taps into a database of 300,000 traditional Chinese medicine cases and uses AI to sort out its diagnoses. Those seeking deeper knowledge of TCM were invited to a special event that included an introductory explanation by Professor Zhang Qiming from the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

Ecological concerns

Just as a rock dropped into a river can change the water’s flow without damming the river, any suggestions or constraints placed on an industry can and will promote genuine innovation that affects the whole industry.

Tsang

Whether one likes it or not, or whether it proves genuinely effective in the larger scheme of things, the watch industry finds itself gripped by a trend toward recycled or sustainable materials and other eco-friendly approaches. 

This became a main point of the Asian Watch Conference. Alice Tsang, Principal Economist Global Research at Hong Kong Trade Development Council explained the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) the EU introduced in mid-2024 as part of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan. The goal: make sustainability the norm for products sold in the EU rather than the exception. The way to achieve it: a so-called Digital Product Passport (DPP).

The DPP will require companies to provide digital documentation including compliance certificates, user manuals, product lifecycle information, details about hazardous substances, and disposal instructions for their products.

The requirements should not prove too difficult to fulfil, says Amarildo Pilo, who heads the Swiss Independent Watchmakers Pavilion (SIWP). The ESPR framework shouldn’t spook the industry, he suggested. “A mechanical watch can be repaired, serviced, and worn again,” he said during his presentation. “It’s not a gadget for a season. It’s something that can outlive its first owner and be passed on.” ESPR will probably influence watch design, pushing for more durability, repairability, and recyclability.

Lilienthal

Among the solutions at the fair: German brand Lilienthal Berlin. Following last year’s launch of a watch case made from recycled coffee grounds, this year they followed up with a new watch featuring a dial made from recycled tea leaves.

Memorigin recycled sea-plastic strap by Hirsch

Another creation using eco-friendly materials emerged from cooperation between Memorigin, a Chinese watch brand known for its tourbillons, and Austrian strap manufacturer Hirsch, which has made its name thanks to its Seaqual yarn made of recycled plastic recovered from the Mediterranean. The strap is backed by a comfortable, natural hypoallergenic rubber.

Sunrex: cheaper than Seiko

Taiwanese company Sunrex, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, presented another form of eco-friendliness. The brand proudly presented its Banana Reef diver’s watches driven by an Epson quartz movement that recharges via a solar cell under the dial (yes, reminiscent of a similar system by Seiko!). The stored energy provides a power reserve of up to five months.

Sustainability encompasses more than just materials and energy. It also includes environmental, social and governance solutions, or ESG for short. After finding batteries that last ten years instead of two, Dutch brand Northgate CEO Willem Kamerman also decided to check out lab-grown diamonds rather than natural diamonds, which many suspect of being mined in unsavoury conditions.

Northgate watch

“Lab-grown diamonds have the same specifications as mined diamonds,” says Kamerman, “but it feels so much better to wear them. As they cost 70% less, we can offer bigger and more diamonds at an affordable price.” 

These artificial diamonds are made using a microwave plasma process.

Ultimately, though, the question remains whether watch manufacturers make concrete contributions to sustainability, considering the size and volume of their product. The main point of “going green,” is not to be a single great revolutionary, but rather to set a trend that inspires other to follow or further innovate.

Good news

The figures, by and large, rose for the HKCWF, suggesting the industry as a whole may be performing better than many oracles of doom suggest. Fair organizers conducted an ad-hoc survey of 920 participants, which revealed optimism, with 59% expecting sales growth over the next 12-24 months. Perhaps more important for Westerners, was the prediction that the most promising markets are the Middle East (82% positive), Taiwan (79%), and Korea (78%).

Smartwatches still show the strongest growth potential (47% of respondents), followed by fashion watches (30%). None of this means mechanical watches are out of the picture. It merely suggests the market remains dynamic and may be readjusting to shift from countries that are currently playing hard to get.

For more information, please visit www.hktdc.com/event/hkwatchfair/en

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