By Brice Goulard
monochrome-watches.com
Until 2015, the SIHH, Salon International de la Haute
Horlogerie, organized by the FHH (Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie) was opened
only to 16 brands, mostly the Richemont Group (Cartier, JLC, IWC…) and a few
friends of the group (Parmigiani, Audemars or Greubel). In 2016, nine new
independent brands came to join the show in the Carré des Horlogers (MB&F,
Urwerk, Laurent Ferrier…). For 2017, in a context that will certainly not be
highly enthusiastic, SIHH will again evolve, by opening to the public for the
first time and by welcoming seven new brands (two international ones and 5 new
independents).
Fabienne Lupo |
In an interview given to Le
Temps, Fabienne Lupo, the President of the Fondation de la Haute
Horlogerie, gives a few indications on the future of the SIHH. First of all,
the show, which was only opened to retailers and journalists, will now open its
doors to public visitors on the Friday 20th of January 2017 – the SIHH will be
open for the usual retailers and journalists from the 16th to the 20th January
2017. The entry will be rather expensive – around 70 or 80 Swiss Francs – but
you’ll have access to some of the most impressive brands.
To the question of the reasons of a public opening, Fabienne
Lupo recalls the change of habits from final clients. More and more brands now
have their own boutiques and less and less retailers. Ms. Lupo also evokes the
fact that more and more sales are done outside the SIHH for retailers, who
spread orders all over the years. Thus, exhibitors found harmful to invest so
much in a salon without showing watches to their final clients, as most of them
buy through official boutiques and not retailers.
Girard-Perregaux 1966 Skeleton |
The second major change concerns the comeback of
Girard-Perregaux – the brand, before being acquired by Kering Group, was part
of the SIHH. It is also rather natural to see GP coming back, as the brand was
one of the founding members of the FHH, together with AP and the Richemont
Group. The other brand of the Kering Group, Ulysse Nardin, will also join the
SIHH 2017. No brand from the previous editions will go away and the spaces
allocated to the brands will remain the same, meaning that the salon will also
expand in terms of space, going from 40,000sqm to 45,000sqm.
Finally, after inviting nine independent brands to join the
show in 2016, all located in a dedicated space named the “Carré des Horlogers,”
the SIHH 2017 will welcome five new independent brands: RJ-Romain Jerome,
Grönefeld, MCT, Ressence and Speake-Marin.
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