The Conversation: Getting Phygital

Physical watch fairs are back, and the editors of WOW are all-in on the experience, even if they are not so keen on the word phygital. Of course, they also cheerfully educate each other on some watches…

- Ashok Soman And Ruckdee Chotjinda

It was a glorious mask-free Swiss soiree for the watch and jewellery industry, and WOW Singapore and Thailand were present and accounted for. As the editors of both editions have noted repeatedly, physical watch fairs are important and watch speciality journalists must be present. While Watches and Wonders is the biggest watch show in the world for 2022, and is unlikely to be surpassed, it was far from the only show in Geneva in the March to April period. There were at least two other shows, and plenty of independent gatherings, including a large one of jewellers who previously showed at Baselworld. This is why we can confidently say the Geneva watch fairs collectively represented the most significant event in the watchmaking calendar of the year.

Of course, we have not yet seen the back of COVID-19, and it certainly wreaked its particular brand of havoc on all of us preparing for a pilgrimage to Geneva. We can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the organisers, so the editors salute the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH). The difficulties were no doubt exacerbated by the ongoing war in Ukraine, the effects of which extended to the Palexpo in the absence of journalists and trade partners from Russia. The sobriety of the last few years continues to mark watchmaking, overall, but the WOW teams were glad to rediscover all the advantages of physical fairs…with some caveats.