What will Watches & Wonders 2021 be like? First of all, it will not be open to everyone. This does not mean that there will be no public content to explore on watchesandwonders.combut that the actual event, with the live shows, panels and round tables, will be reserved only for the press and a selected, invited audience.
It promises to be a busy week, although less than expected. Not all brands, in fact, have concentrated their product launches in those days and, above all, not all of them have decided to adhere to the event's formula of live press conferences for journalists.
Among the names deviating from the classic approach inherited from the Sihh presence version were Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chopard, Tudor and Chanel. Present on the platform with products, the Houses reserved different moments and - above all - different media for live presentations.
Rolex and Tudor will announce the novelties on 7 April, but the live presentation will be organised in attendance, when possible, in the different markets. Both Houses, as well as Chanel, are planning video launches of the novelties on the Watches & Wonders platform. Patek Philippe, for its part, will unveil some new models on 7 April and others on the 12th outside the platform. Chopard, finally, will make its press material available on the reserved area of watchesandwonders.combut will organise specific events after the exhibition.
Those who have embraced the format at 100% are Lvmh, with Bulgari, Hublot, Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer and Zenith, as well as other manufacturers, including Nomos, Maurice Lacroix, Oris, Chronoswiss (I'm going by memory).
Different strategies, which probably want to emphasise the differentiation between the Watches & Wonders proper and what should have been a sister show, contemporary but not integrated, which would have welcomed the five most prominent Baselworld outcasts (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chopard, Tudor and Chanel, in fact) in another area of Geneva's PalaExpo. A signal that not even the digital version of Watches & Wonders still has precise governance.
Dody Giussani
