DMT Beauty Transformation: Watch Snob on Watch Design in a Climate of Fear
featured Khareem Sudlow

Watch Snob on Watch Design in a Climate of Fear

January 21, 2020DMT Beauty

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Watch Snob Takes on the New Stuff From LVMH Watch Week Dubai

Fear in the Desert: LVMH Watch Week Dubai

Something the casual watch enthusiast may not realize, is that when they hear about new watches, is when the watch industry chooses to unveil new releases. There was a time when this happened in a fairly predictable fashion and according to a fairly predictable schedule. There were two major trade shows, which were the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, or SIHH, and there was Baselworld. The two shows were separated by a decent interval of time, and if a company did not want to rub shoulders with Cartier and the Richemont Group at SIHH, why, you could be sure they would show later in the year at Baselworld.

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Trade shows in the watch industry, as elsewhere, are experiencing a bit of a crisis and even casual enthusiasts probably know that many exhibitors have decided that trade shows no longer offer them exposure commensurate with the high costs, and this combined with uncertainties over the dates of the shows have led some brands to decide to do their own independent product launches. Just this last week, the watch brands owned by LVMH, which include TAG Heuer, Zenith, Bulgari, and Hublot, debuted some (although not all) of their new pieces for 2020, in Dubai.

It is of course still quite early in the year, but even taking that into account the overall launch was not especially impactful. Relative to shows like Baselworld this is to be expected, of course, as there are only four brands to contend with, but still, one feels that overall, LVMH Watch Week Dubai, as they called it, was rather more incremental than anything else. I don’t want to be unfair – there is nothing wrong with making relatively minor updates and improvements to existing models; in fact Rolex has made a very lucrative business out of mostly doing exactly that.

But still, things felt tentative. Zenith, for instance, was most notable for cosmetic changes to its Elite line of watches, which through no fault of their own have for many years been nearly invisible thanks to the prominence of El Primero. The new moonphase Elite watches were nicely done in some respects but the overall sense one had was of caution – certainly no new ground was broken. Hublot showed several large, loud, rather bombastic pieces – in other words, remained true to form and again, no surprises; and TAG Heuer contented itself with a limited edition version of a vintage Carrera model, which is virtually the physical embodiment of incrementalism.

Oddly enough, it was the jewelry house of the lot – Bulgari – that showed the most interesting pieces, both from a horological and from a design perspective. I am sure that the insecure machismo characteristic of many so-called watch enthusiasts prevented them from noticing, but they announced an absolutely delicious little shaped tourbillon movement for the Serpenti Seduttori; easily the most beautiful piece of interesting traditional watchmaking from any of the LVMH brands. And Bulgari also offered the most interesting design update. The Octo Finissimo Automatic steel model got a new finish, as well as a screw-down crown and improved water resistance and in a stroke, went from a quite niche watch (the previous steel model had a sandblasted steel finish, and while it set a record at its launch for ultra-thin watches, it also appealed to a rather narrow range of tastes) to one which is now a viable alternative to many other stainless steel luxury sports watches.

I am sure that the watch industry overall is in no mood to take risks – the political turmoil around the world, and in key markets like Hong Kong, has impacted sales and made all our friends in Switzerland nervous. But Bulgari has shown that working within a less wide range of possibilities, does not mean you have to sacrifice quality, nor give up a commitment to good taste.

Send the Watch Snob your questions at editorial@askmen.com or ask him a question on the @AskMen Instagram with the #AskMenWatchSnob hashtag.

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Watch Snob, Khareem Sudlow

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