SIHH 2019: What To Expect?

While many people are gearing up for the holidays, the watchworld is already preparing for the first big event of 2019; the SIHH. While only insiders of the participating brands know exactly what new products will be launched, by now, we can already tell what kind of year it is going to be. We can base this on two things: the pre-released watches, and the ones we already have all the details of, but cannot share yet due to an embargo.

What is very remarkable this year is not only the number of new watches that have been part of the pre-releases of the various brands but also the kind of watches that have been already introduced. The general rule of the thumb is that you keep your true showstoppers under wraps so that you can release them on the actual fair and not before. When that is also the case this year, we are in for an amazing SIHH!

As we already showed you last week, Roger Dubuis debuted a whole new caliber, Cartier announced the start of a new collection and Vacheron Constantin presented the highly complicated Les Cabinotiers Grande Complication Phoenix. It doesn’t end here, because IWC is expanding their Pilot’s Watch collection, with four new watches including a rattrapante chronograph made from Ceratanium, a relatively new material which the brand introduced in 2017 that combines the benefits of titanium with that of ceramic.

Also, the non-Richemont brands are already on fire, with RJ Watches announcing a collaboration with Warner Bros to create DC Comics Villains watches. The first two focus on two of Batman’s archenemies; The Joker and Two-Face. They add even more spice to an already incredible array of watches that will hit the stores next year.

It will be a unique edition of the SIHH anyhow, as this is the last year that Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille will participate, as they both announced their departure from the show in 2020 earlier this year. However, Breitling and Bucherer have recently become members of the FHH, Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, which is responsible for organizing the fair. This could mean that the empty spots for 2020 will already be filled and another loss for Baselworld. However, before we get to that, we can celebrate the holidays with the expectation that 2019 is going to be an amazing year in watches!