I’m not joking about the biscuits, but we’ll get to that…
For those unfamiliar with the name, Baselworld is a very large international trade exhibition held annually in Basel, Switzerland (I imagine the name took a long time and many meetings to come up with…) Over 6 days the world’s largest and most prestigious watch and jewellery brands showcase their latest collections (along with an increasing number of smaller, independent manufacturers). For the last few years I have been lucky enough to visit the show with our director, so we get to see lots of new models as they are unveiled to the world. This year was no exception, and I am very excited to present – in no particular order – my highlights of Baselworld 2018.
First up is the Seiko “Save The Ocean” series. These 3 special edition watches have been inspired by Seiko’s long association with professional divers. The actual designs are not completely new – using the already popular Turtle and Samurai case shapes, plus a solar chronograph, but he main attraction here is the dials. The pictures do not do them justice, each one graduating very subtly through many shades of blue to a deep navy which is almost black. We were informed this is to make it look like the colour of the ocean getting darker as you go deeper. The Samurai and Solar chronograph come on steel bracelets, and the Turtle is on a rubber strap. Prices are £399 for the Turtle and the Solar chronograph and £449 for the Samurai. Definitely one to look out for, as I think these will be hugely popular given the success of Seiko’s previous Blue Lagoon and Black edition series.
Next is the new Longines Hydroconquest. This watch has been available for some time, but Longines have finally remade the range with ceramic bezels. While this does mean a small increase in price (£1,090 for the basic model), I believe the benefits of ceramic (it is amazingly scratch resistant and will not fade) more than make up for it. They have also introduced a very sporty looking grey ceramic bezel piece on a rubber strap of which I was particularly fond. Look out for these later in the year.
Something I was definitely looking forward to seeing was the Frederique Constant Hybrid 3.0 Smartwatch. Essentially what the brand have done is combine an in-house mechanical movement and hybrid smartwatch technology in one slick looking watch. This means that the timekeeping part of the watch is entirely mechanical (as is the date) but on the other side of the movement there is a smart chip which takes care of fitness tracking, sleep monitoring and and also incorporates a worldtimer. Not content with this, FC have also fitted an Analytics chip in the watch, which monitors the mechanical movement, tells the user how much the watch is gaining or losing, and lets you know when it’s time for a service. The smart functions will run for about 7 days on a full charge, and the automatic movement has a 42 hour power reserve. The steel version is priced at £2,995, with the option of a rose gold plated version at £3,295. There is also a limited edition watch with a very modern blue and black dial priced at £3,195. Each piece comes with a special watch winder, which doubles as a charger for the smart tech. It is extremely rare that the watch industry gets something like this which genuinely breaks the mould (I would refer you to my earlier post about innovation), and I eagerly await the arrival of these in store.
While we’re on the subject of Frederique Constant, we were also shown a new range of ladies automatic ‘Open Heart’ watches, featuring a small heart-shaped aperture on the dial, revealing the moving escapement (the heartbeat) of the watch. Featuring a very understated design, and available with several different strap options in either steel or rose gold plate, priced from £1,595, I was so impressed by these that I had to send pictures of them to our assistant manager back in Norwich (made much easier by the lack of data roaming charges in Switzerand – hurrah for technology…!) Look out for these in our Norwich store in the next few months.
While we go to Basel primarily to see our existing suppliers, we are always on the lookout for new things. Oddly, there was a manufacturer of what appeared to be biscuits there, which I found intriguing (if a little out of place – although I expect they were very expensive biscuits…), but a new brand in which we have taken a particular interest is a German watch manufacturer based in Glashutte called Bruno Sohnle. Anyone familiar with German watches will recognise their style; very minimalist, very high attention to detail (and in this case – very reasonable prices). They also make something I had never seen before: A quartz watch with a transparent caseback and a decorated movement. This, I admit, is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s nice to see something different. With some of their automatic watches, they go even further – removing the rotor, the base plate and the bridges from the Sellita movement and replacing them with their own in-house, custom finished parts. Prices start from around £400, which we thought was very competitive. Currently we have filed this brand as a definite maybe, so keep checking here on the blog and keep an eye on our windows…!
This represents but a small snapshot of the watches we have seen at Basel, and I cannot hope to cover everything. I will do my best to announce the new pieces here on the blog as they arrive, but if you want to find out more, discuss a particular piece, or just want to see one of the best collections of watches in Norwich, please stop by and have a chat!
Ian Palmer – April 2018
