After the Watches & Wonders exhibition in Shanghai*, the promoters of this haute-horology event have chosen SANYA as their latest venue. For one month, September 29th to October 31st, 2020, the southeast China resort plays host to Watches & Wonders: the opportunity to discover, after Shanghai, the latest creations from the eleven exhibiting Maisons, inside the prestigious CDF Mall. Workshops, talks and introductions to watchmaking are also part of the programme for this second date in China.
The Watches & Wonders adventure continues with this second event in China, which carries on the collaboration between the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) and the China Tourism Group Duty Free Corporation Ltd. (CDFG). Their alliance was marked by a “Cloud” Signing Ceremony on September 17th, held simultaneously in Beijing and Geneva.
Visitors to the event can discover the new collections that were shown in April on the digital platform and in Shanghai, early September.
More than a presentation of the latest releases, this is an immersive and educational experience with opportunities to:
– interact with the exhibiting Maisons;
– experience watchmaking first-hand at workshops;
– gain insight into some of the key issues for the watch industry at the many talks.
After the first three days, reserved for the media and VIP customers, the event opens to a wider public, in particular collectors and enthusiasts, who can learn more about watches and watchmaking thanks to an experiential and educational programme, with full safety measures in place:
– Hands-on workshops: lasting 90 minutes, they are a chance to step into a watchmaker’s shoes by taking apart then reassembling a mechanical movement. Each session, for up to ten people, is delivered in Chinese by an FHH-approved instructor.
– Immersive experience: in collaboration with the exhibiting Maisons, visitors can, for example, try IWC’s Cyberloupe, a digitalised magnifier that enables them to see a movement exactly as the watchmaker sees it, or Piaget’s Infinitely Personal configurator for ultimate personalisation of an Altiplano watch, from the case material to the dial colour and gem setting.
– Talks: a full schedule of talks gets under way with a panel discussion by influential figures in China and the watch world, debating changes taking place in the country’s watch market. Other topics relating to developments in the sector, including a presentation of new models and trends for 2020, will also come under discussion. Talks are led in Chinese by an FHH expert.
Exhibiting Maisons – Watches & Wonders Sanya
A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Hermès, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget, Montblanc, Roger Dubuis, and Vacheron Constantin
*The Watches & Wonders fair in Shanghai took place from September 9th to 13th this year at the West Bund Art Center. It is for the first time Shanghai hosted the Watches & Wonders exhibition. A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Parmigiani Fleurier, Piaget, Purnell, Roger Dubuis and Vacheron Constantin attended this event.
