Previously, SIHH was largely a trade-only event, with members of the public only able to attend the final day at Geneva’s Palexpo Convention Centre.
From next year however, consumers will be able to purchase a ticket to all five days of the show – which will be titled Watches & Wonders: The Salon – as well as festival-style activities to be held throughout Geneva, to be known as Watches & Wonders: In The City.
The changes are designed to draw more attendees to the 2020 event, which is shifting from its usual January timeslot to 25–29 April, right before Baselworld.
Fabienne Lupo, managing director of SIHH organisers the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), said, “It will be a completely different experience. It’s about bringing in a new audience, new content, new ways of talking about fine watchmaking.”
Consumer-specific presentations, panel discussions and workshops will be included in The Salon’s itinerary, alongside product showcases from around 30 exhibitors.
Meanwhile the In The City component will include watch-themed activities like walking tours, visits to manufacturers and museum open houses.
“Until now, no public event around time measurement ever existed in Geneva, which was quite surprising since Geneva was the cradle of watchmaking,” Lupo explained. “We want to showcase fine watchmaking, show the expertise behind the timepieces, and target a new audience, especially the young generation and Millennials who are not necessarily interested in wearing a watch. It is really our objective to reach out to them.”
She added that ‘SIHH’ had become “very much a B2B trade name” while the new title reflects the event’s fresh direction: “We chose a name that conveys a sense of wonder, excellence, openness and discovery.”
Richard Mille and Audemars Piguet have confirmed they will not exhibit at Watches & Wonders Geneva due to the format change, however Cartier has signalled its approval.
FHH previously produced Watches & Wonders shows in Miami and Hong Kong, but the Geneva event will be the first to include the ‘In The City’ activities.
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