Summer time

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Summer time - Editorial
2 minutes read
It’s summer in Europe. It took a while to get here, but it’s here at last. This means a couple of things for those of us who live and breathe watches.

First of all, it’s the vacances horlogères, which in 2019 constitutes the three weeks from Monday the 15th of July to Friday the 2nd of August. It’s a formal period of summer closure agreed upon by the Convention Patronale de l’Industrie Horlogère Suisse, an association which I didn’t realise existed until ten minutes ago. 

When I was a watch journalist in Singapore, the vacances horlogères was simply an annoying time in the middle of the year when no one from Switzerland would answer my emails, when watch companies would basically disappear off the radar for a month.

Now that I’m a watch journalist in Geneva, the vacances horlogères is still an annoying time in the middle of the year when no one answers my emails, but the annoyance is vastly reduced by the very fact that it’s summer and there are far better things to do than stress out about the all “Out of Office” autoreplies piling up in your inbox. 

After all, the lake, as they say in Switzerland, is not on fire. 

I’m told that in the past, and I mean like 50 years ago or something, entire Swiss towns would more or less shut down during this time. Towns such as La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle, where watchmaking made up the majority of all commercial activity, would grind to a halt and tumbleweeds would blow down the main thoroughfare like in a Sergio Leone film.

In the vacances horlogères of 2019, things slow down, but they do not stop. Certainly they don’t stop here at WorldTempus. If you love watches as we do, you’ll know that this is not a passion that goes on hiatus when the weather is fine and the lake is calling your name. We’ll still be here, delivering the news you need about the things you love. 

Secondly, our Big Summer Competition is in full swing and you should definitely check it out if you haven’t already. There are new prizes available every two days, thanks to the generosity of our partner brands, and someone has to win them, so why shouldn’t it be you?

This past week on WorldTempus has featured a bonanza of season-appropriate wristwear for any sun-soaked activity you might choose — from the new diver’s watch in matt black from Bell & Ross to the blazing-hot new limited-edition TAG Heuer Monaco racing chronograph and a Mykonos-only edition of the HYT H0 that’s made for white beaches and balmy evenings. And if you still can’t find anything that’s just right for your æstival needs, you can drop us a line and we’ll see if we can’t fix that for you. I promise you won’t be receiving an “Out of Office” autoreply.

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