Hong Kong Fair
By Martin Foster
Eastern Allure
Watchmakers from China share
space with Swiss brands at the
Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair
A
From Shanghai Watch Industry Co Ltd (formerly
Shanghai Watch Factory) comes this 18-karat gold
double tourbillon 12Hr. with a karrusel rotating
as part of the dial and thus indicating the passing
hours. Conceptually the idea belongs to a number
of top makers. It’s a rather difficult complication.
t the Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair (HKW&CF) this past
timepieces from 150 established brands, including forty leading Swiss
September buyers and exhibitors spoke of smart watches,
brands from both the Swatch Group and Richemont stables. Many of
the difficult global timepiece market and the rise of mid-priced
these exhibited under the umbrella of their Hong Kong agent, Prince
brands. And despite the year’s glum sales global watch sales results,
Jewellery & Watch Company, which is the agent for Blancpain, Bovet,
this fair still attracted more than 20,000 buyers, up 2.4 percent over
Breguet, Bulgari, Chopard, Corum, DeWitt, Franck Muller, Glashütte
the previous year.
Original, H. Moser & Cie, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and Zenith.
The buyers came to see more than 800 exhibitors from 26
Catering for Asian customers’ demand for top-quality Swiss watch
countries and regions, among which Australia, Iran, Lithuania, Monaco,
brands, the Swiss Eminence within the Salon de TE returned to the fair
Thailand and Turkey were new to the show. In recent years, Swiss com-
in 2016 to showcase six moderately priced Swiss brands: Balco, Buler,
panies have also been drawn to the show as exhibitors, and many show
Doxa, Enicar, Juvet and Sultana. In addition, the Swiss Independent
their wares at the high-end ‘Salon de TE’ that annually showcases luxury
Watchmaking Pavilion (SIWP) also brought seven watch brands bearing
94 | AboutTime Magazine