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.
For the fourth month in a row, the picture of performance at the top remains mixed: the WatchCharts Overall Market Index fell by -0.1%, prices for Rolex fell by -0.2% and by -0.3% for Audemars Piguet. However, Patek Philippe prices rose by +0.6%.
The Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair (HKCWF), which ran 3-6 September, can be quite a tempestuous event. On the one hand, you can get into the nitty-gritty of this fabulous industry, which is continuously trying to renew itself in the face of rocky markets and a sea change in societal attitudes.
Naissance d’une Montre 3 by Ferdinand Berthoud is a series of 11 completely hand crafted watches powered by a unique combination of a split bimetallic temperature-compensated Guillaume-type balance wheel and a constant-force fusee-and-chain transmission system.
In celebration of MB&F’s 20th anniversary in 2025, two LM101 EVO editions are introduced in titanium, available with either a salmon or peacock green dial plate.
Color has always been a very important part of the M.A.D.Editions collection, but these new models by British-Nigerian artist/designer Yinka Ilori take color to a whole new level. These watches may have been inspired by nature, but rarely does nature look this vibrant . . . or this crazy!
Foudroyante, which is French for lightning bolt), chronographs have always been very rare because in measuring fractions of a second by driving a hand that rotates every second uses a lot of energy. With the Nano Foudroyante: Greubel Forsey has solved the inherent drawbacks in foudroyante chronographs by using nanotechnology to reduce power consumption by an incredible 1,800 times!
Take Tim Mosso’s word when he assures you that Omega’s ultimate dive watch is both ridiculously deep-diving and… well… ridiculous. But there’s much more than that as he explains here.
The Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1 is a new watch built like an old watch, and that’s exactly the point. Hand Made 1 isn’t the most complicated, conspicuous, or inventive Greubel Forsey watch, but it looks backwards to point the way forward.
Philippe Dufour is the master watchmaker you imagine. He’s scholarly, accomplished, revered, an eminence grise of the watch universe, and the guy all the up-and-coming craftsmen want to be. Tim Mosso gets up close and personal with both the man and his iconic Simplicity.