Today was my first day at the trade show and I wrote a post about the following brands on www.aceblog.info:
– Rado
– Longines
– TAG Heuer
– Ace Watches
– U-boat
– Welder
Usually when you have walked around for a couple of hours on the fair, you get a sense if it is a slow year, a year of line extensions or a revolutionary year. The year 2008 seems as a year of line extensions and as I call it, a period of consolidation. The brands are consolidating their successes. The successes of the last decade are prolonged and these are the trends for 2008 in my opinion:
1. Diamonded watches for ladies AND men are STILL hot:
Corum Diamond Watch (for men)
Corum Diamond-Ruby Watch (for Ladies)
Patek Philippe Nautilus Full Diamonds (men or women)
Even Longines has jeweled watches and this is a special piece where the side of the lunette/bezel is set.
2. Big is still the trends, we thought that 46mm is large, well:
Longines made the HydroConquest in 47,5mm, see the differecen compared to my fathers 46mm IWC Big Pilot.
Welder made another watch 55mm with 3 time zones
3. Black cases are still very trendy, black PVD on steel or titanium or ceramic:
TAG Heuer Grande Carrera RS2 Limited Edition
Master of Ceramic: Rado!
U-boat makes black watches with black PVD on steel, titanium or complete ceramic cases.
4. Pink Gold is here to stay (it was in the 1920s and the 1950s):
TAG Heuer Grande Carrera Limited Edition
Patek Philippe World Timer
Longines L990 Manufacture Limited Edition
5. HiMech = HiTech Mechanical Watches:
Chopard Chrono
Blancpain is the only one with a real watchmaker on the fair
Patek Philippe Advanced Research Lab was the first to create a silicium escapement!
AND I WANTED TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU, THE CEO OF THE SWATCH GROUP (Nick Hayek Jr.) SCHLEPPING A CHAIR TO THE GLASHUTTE MEETING ROOM (IS THIS BRAND GETTING EXTRA ATTENTION?!):
Tomorrow more news…
Tags: basel, Basel Trade Show 2008, baselworld, chopard, glashutte, longines, nick hayek jr., patek, patek philippe, rolex, tag heuer, u-boat, watch trends 2008, welder
WatchFreaks 
April 8, 2008 at 9:36 pm |
Your Dad has great taste in watches, love that IWC Big Pilot!
-JP
April 8, 2008 at 10:29 pm |
@JP: Thank you. Today we compared the IWC Big Pilot with the brand new Breitling Chrono-matic 49 (yes, indeed 49 mm): http://www.aceblog.info (see picture).
April 9, 2008 at 2:22 am |
that Longines jeweled watch look great. nice photo
April 11, 2008 at 3:33 pm |
@Matt: Thanks. I liked the fact they set the site of the bezel/lunette. Very unique.
April 12, 2008 at 3:19 pm |
@alonbj: 49mm is a monster, my 5002 BP is probably my limit as far as size goes. 🙂
April 12, 2008 at 3:32 pm |
@JP: If you think 49 is a monster, what about a 55mm?! In 2001 a 46mm watch seemed a wall clock on your wrist, but nowadays it seems a tipping point and/or benchmark for what is big or not!
September 26, 2009 at 3:23 am |
I’m looking forward to Basel World 2010. I have a hunch companies like Patek Philippe will introduce some very interesting timepieces this time around.
February 16, 2011 at 3:59 pm |
Great stuff,
Thanks for sharing.
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