FROM THE EDITORS Letters + Events
The Montblanc Heritage
Manufacture Pulsograph,
new in 2019.
TRAVEL NOTES
n this issue we preview debut watches ahead of the final January SIHH.
If you’ve missed the big industry news, the SIHH and Baselworld will
synchronize shows starting in 2020. This combined watch show schedule
next year starts April 26 in Geneva with SIHH, followed by Baselworld, which starts
April 30. The two shows are synchronized until 2024.
I
FOR INTERNATIONAL WATCH READERS, THIS NEW CALENDAR MEANS YOUR 2020 pilgrimage
to Switzerland to see debut watches at Baselworld just got more interesting. Add a day or two next year to your
travel schedule and you’ll also be able to preview the new watches at the SIHH. For many other visitors, notably
for North American and Asia-based retailers, this new calendar is a winning deal that offers the advantage of
reducing travel expenses and time.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There are still plenty of new watches to take a look at this year.
Our early review notes a good deal of primary model updates, with a bit less retro-design. IWC in particular
has strengthened a bedrock collection, its Pilot’s watches, with a broad selection of interesting materials and
treatments. Montblanc underscored its sporty TimeWalker and Classic collections ahead of the SIHH, though
you’ll see inside this issue that the new Montblanc Heritage nicely highlights Minerva’s mid-century designs.
We also noted stunning and detailed dial work, particularly from Piaget, Parmigiani Fleurier and
Jaeger-LeCoultre, each of which doubled down on existing collections, but with refreshed takes and notable
artistic dials. Bovet, Cartier and Vacheron Constantin each hit home runs with new complicated pieces.
To extend our travel advice, three stories in this issue suggest timepiece-related tours. One recommends the
Omega museum in Biel/Bienne, another offers several impressive Casio stops in Japan while the third revels in
6 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | WINTER 2019
the sights and sounds of Nomos facilities in Glashutte
and Berlin.
Once you’ve read these stories, you’ll have to
visit one or all the noted locations, perhaps adding
travel dates after your next visit to the now linked
Baselworld-SIHH shows. See you there.
Regards ,
Michael Thompson
Editor-in-Chief | [email protected]