After going digital in 2020, the Watches and Wonders show (previously known as Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie or SIHH), decided to keep it digital for 2021 as well – as least as far as their Geneva event was concerned. Thus, this time around W&W took place digitally between 7-13 April and was followed by a live event in Shanghai.
The Geneva show was originally announced to be fully digital, so it was not a major surprise that it took place that way. HourUniverse, the new Basel show, was also supposed to take place around those dates (8-12 April), but the organizers decided to cancel that event and maybe move it to a later date in the year.
During the digital Geneva show, many new watches were unveiled, and many watch enthusiasts were excited to be able to see them online. However, the full experience of the show was definitely absent. While the organizers did do their best to replace a physical experience with a digital one, in many cases, this simply cannot be (yet) done. The issue is that it is simply something too different to make it work in another way. The move from a physical event to a web-based experience is too great a gap. It is somewhat like saying that your favorite film is now a side dish, which you can experience at McDonald’s. It simply doesn’t work.
However, out of this entire debacle, there were still a few good things that rose to the surface. The coolest one was the shows which W&W offered on their YT channel. With a friendly and professional host (Belle Donati), the morning episodes and panel discussions were fresh and cool and really did bring the event closer and tied the whole experience together. Such shows and a stronger online presence of the watch community is something we would definitely like to see more of. HourUniverse also promised to deliver a great online experience, but, so far, it has not really launched any viable platform in that sense. Moreover, a digital event gives people the chance to interact with each other and connect faster. The issue with it, besides the fact that it cannot replace the physical experience, is that a lot of trolls can join the discussion and, secondly, that the watch community will become smaller and more exclusive. It sounds counter-intuitive, as a digital show is supposed to bring in more people, but the people who have access to actually see and touch the watches and to engage with key people in the industry diminishes by a lot if the entire activity is moved online and if there are no common, semipublic places where people can meet. A huge part of watch events is, for everyone, meeting other people – at the booths, at parties and talks and even at a bar, a couple of hours after the official event has closed down. Now, with a digital show, all those avenues of connecting have closed.
It’s hard to tell if and, if yes, how watch fairs will return to a physical form. However, what is quite clear is that online shows may be an excellent complementary idea, but they are not a replacement of a physical show in any way. How many people took days off work to watch the latest releases from various watch brands? How many people had a group chat of their own regarding the watches? These questions may be relevant to the watch community, but to the watchmakers, the only real relevant questions are those regarding money: did they lose money or not? How will this shift impact their revenues in the long term?
38 watch brands showcased their newest releases during the digital Watches & Wonders event, but, moving forward, it is very likely that Geneva will become the hotspot for watch fairs, so more brands will likely attend the next editions of the show. It may become more exclusive, but that also means that the standards will be higher. Let’s be optimistic.
Fraquoh and Franchomme
P.S. We want to hear from you! What did you think of the Geneva 2021 Watches and Wonders edition? Do you see benefits to it? Would you still go to a physical event? Share your feedback, questions or thoughts in the comments below! For more articles on style, fashion tips and cultural insights, you can subscribe to Attire Club via e-mail or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!