NEW AND NOTED

As you might expect, we have been covering Watches and Wonders Geneva since it began as a physical fair in 2022 and of course when it was confined to the ether, from 2020.

In all this time, we have only been able to spare a meagre number of words on the newcomers to the fair, who have been arriving in ever greater numbers. This is true even if you do not look to the happy pirates over at the Beau Rivage and other locations, nor the exhibiting brands at parallel watch fair Time to Watches.

We believe the 'pirate' remark was meant as a bit of fun, with the idea being closer to the characters in the film franchise "Pirates of the Caribbean" rather than the real historical pirates of the Caribbean nor the contemporary kind that plagues even watchmaking with thefts and fakery. The original remark was made in Swiss publication NZZ by Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation Chairman Jean-Frederic Dufour. Dufour is also the CEO of Rolex, and his interview has thus been scrutinised and picked apart by industry commentators everywhere (including right here).

In any case, we will not be discussing this right here, although it is elsewhere in the issue. Instead, we would like to correct our various sins of omission across time, even though this writer himself was confined to the Palexpo, where Watches and Wonders Geneva happens.

Happily, for the first time, the Editor of World of Watches Malaysia joined us and he went to see some interesting and out-of-the-ordinary stuff. Thus, for the first time, we will be dedicating space for some of the 54 exhibitors at the fair that we have barely - in some cases never - covered. We are still unable to cover everyone, but anyone who has wandered the grounds of the now-defunct BaselWorld never tries to go everywhere anyway. It is worth remembering that events like the watch week are meant to provide a year's worth of content so look out for that in future issues.