Watches And Wonders 2021 is nearly at an end, and I’m elated to share with you that your brave WorldTempus team is still standing (barely). Although the vast majority of new watches were launched during the Geneva (digital) segment of the salon, a few brands kept some surprises in store in order to delight the attendees of Watches And Wonders Shanghai.
Take the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Nonantième, for example, which premiered on the first day of Watches And Wonders Shanghai. Although certainly not as groundbreaking and flat-out stunning as the Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 Quadriptyque, the Nonantième is a beautiful celebration of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s most iconic watch design and deserved a separate launch date — to better enjoy the spotlight on its own merit.
There has been much discussion of the trends that were observed during Watches And Wonders, such as the prevalence of timepieces with green dials that appeared this year. Any discussion of aesthetic trends in watchmaking has always been slightly bewildering to me, because in every other aspect of watchmaking, we emphasise values like longevity, durability and adherence to tradition. Even when the subject of innovation arises, it’s always delimited by tradition. How many times have you heard a new watch described as “creativity anchored in tradition”? There is an ingrained reluctance and antipathy towards anything that’s too disruptive, so perhaps it doesn’t make much sense to talk about stylistic trends, because how impactful is that really?
Much more interesting for us as a community would be trends that do not necessarily relate to aesthetics, but direction and strategy. Brands such as Panerai, IWC and Cartier made some very strong statements about their commitment to sustainable watchmaking, responsible sourcing of materials, signalling an increased sensitivity to environmental and ethical concerns. Models such as the eLAB-ID Submersible PAM01225, which is 98.6% recycled material by weight, show that ecologically responsible watchmaking is an attainable goal in the near future.
One issue very close to my heart is the topic of gender-free watches — or more accurately, freeing watches from the constraints of gender categorisation. I moderated the live Q&A session with Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Catherine Renier, and when a question came in about whether the company would be releasing a complicated Reverso timepiece for women later this year, I was beyond thrilled to hear her reply (without any hesitation), “Ladies can wear the Quadriptyque. The Reverso watches we release this year, including the Quadriptyque, can be worn by men or women.” I’ve questioned several times before who benefits from this practice of separating watches by gender. I don’t think it helps brands or retailers to put this idea into people’s minds, that there is an entire category of watches out there that is explicitly not for them. It certainly doesn’t benefit the buyer — I would feel actively annoyed if I went into a watch boutique and was presented only with the watches that are labelled as women’s watches. Men who enjoy smaller watches might be mentally deterred from buying a watch that they actually like, just because it’s in the women’s category.
Brands seem to be paying attention, because we are seeing a far greater amount of diversity in case diameters across feminine and masculine designs, with much less emphasis on classifying watches as men’s or women’s models. Free the watch, I say, and free the consumer!
