There are four times in each calendar year when the international watch community descends on Geneva: in late March for Watches and Wonders, in May for auction week, at the end of August for Geneva Watch Days and in November for the big year-end blowout combo of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), annual auctions, and bi-annual horological fundraiser Only Watch.
Of course, not everyone gets involved with all four of these events. Watches and Wonders and Geneva Watch Days are more industry-centric, while the auctions are by nature oriented towards consumers. This is good in a number of ways — from the media perspective, it means that the calendar is varied enough to keep things interesting for us. And from a practical point of view, Geneva simply isn’t equipped to handle both the industry and the consumer contingents at the same time (traffic is already unbearable on normal days, as my Uber driver griped to me the other day).
This week, the usual suspects will dust off their auctioneer’s hammers and give them a polish in readiness for the various sales taking place across the luxury hotel stretch of Geneva. You might remember our little chat with Manon Hagie of Sotheby’s, going over a few hand-picked highlights of their upcoming sale to be held on Sunday, 14 May at the Mandarin Oriental Geneva. (And if you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here.) Auction results, whilst in many ways a far-from-perfect reflection of the watch market, offer us the most detailed and information-rich report of the products created by our industry. While retail prices are mostly explained by things like mechanical quality, design and finishing, brand positioning and other tangible, measurable factors, auction results are based on something far more elusive — sustained desirability. As one of my favourite watch-related metaphors puts it: retail sales tell us the watches that consumers want to date; auction sales show us the watches that consumers want to marry.
The marriage market is wide open as of Thursday, 11 May, when newcomer Ineichen hold their Geneva sale at the President Wilson hotel. I say “newcomer” although Ineichen is a veteran Zurich-based auctioneer, because this is the first time they’re physically here as a part of the Geneva May auctions. To get a peek at some of the treasures that they’re offering for sale, don’t miss Sophie Furley’s selection of five watches to look out for at the Ineichen sale.
The excitement continues over the weekend, with Christie’s taking Friday and Saturday for their sale at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues. Saturday also sees the Phillips sale kicking off at Hôtel La Réserve, but the hottest action is reserved for Sunday, when Phillips (La Réserve), Sotheby’s (Mandarin Oriental) and Antiquorum (Hotel Beau-Rivage) have their own respective sales. And if you think that Monday is when we all have to come down from our weekend auction high — think again, because that’s when Antiquorum holds their second consecutive day of sales.
So, get ready to have your social media accounts bombarded with record-setting sales and surprise results, and don’t worry about the FOMO (an acronym for the term “Fear Of Missing Out”, something else we have social media to thank for) if you can’t be in Geneva this week. In a month, there’ll be the Geneva auction scene’s last shout — the online sale of boutique auction house Iconeek. While the adrenaline rush of raising a paddle in a room electric with competing bids may be missing in an online auction, there’s something to be said for the experience of acquiring a watch in the comfort of your home, at the click of a mouse. I suspect it’s an experience we’ll start to look more and more fondly upon as the weekend progresses and we’re packed in Uber cars rushing about town (and cursing the Geneva traffic).
