Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), a leading global watch show, has made the biggest change in its history for its 30th edition in April 2020.

The event, organised by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, comes with a new format, new name, new dates and new audiences. SIHH becomes Watches & Wonders Geneva: an unprecedented concept, held now in association with the City and the Canton of Geneva at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland.

From April 25 to 29, Watches & Wonders Geneva will bring the entire international watch community together. For 30 years, the leading fine watchmaking maisons have come to the Salon to present their newest products to their best customers and the international media.

At Watches & Wonders Geneva this year, the maisons will preview their creations and, in doing so, set the trends that will define the year and the decade to come in watchmaking.

Watches & Wonders Geneva is an event in two parts. The exclusive Salon is the place for professionals, media and special guests of the exhibiting maisons. New for the public, “In the City” transforms the centre of Geneva into a week-long discovery of the many facets of watchmaking excellence. For the public, and young people in particular, this will be a first-ever opportunity to discover and experience watchmaking differently.

“Because it’s about more than watches, we chose a name that conveys a sense of wonder, excellence, openness and discovery; a different way to experience watchmaking,” says Fabienne Lupo, Chairwoman and Managing Director of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.

“Watches & Wonders becomes the focal point for the exceptional talent, creativity and infinite innovation of the world’s leading watch and jewellery maisons,” she says.

This new format welcomes 31 watch brands. They include 17 Historic Maisons, including MB&F and H Moser & Cie who are joining this group four years after being part of the Carré des Horlogers.

The Historic Maisons are: A Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, Bovet, Cartier, Girard-Perregaux, Hermès, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, MB&F, H Moser & Cie, Montblanc, Panerai, Parmigiani, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, Ulysse Nardin and Vacheron Constantin.

CARRÉ DES HORLOGERS

Reserved since 2016 for independent artisan-creators, in 2020 the Carré des Horlogers welcomes 14 brands. A catalyst for creativity, this section sees the arrival of five new exhibitors this year. Fabergé, renowned for its imperial eggs and relaunched in 2007, dazzles with its stunning watch and jewellery creations; Arnold & Son, a Swiss Fine Watch brand whose origins go back to the renowned 18th-century English watchmaker John Arnold; Rebellion, a young brand, has made its name with standout mechanisms and designs; Rudis Sylva with its original complication saw daylight in 2006; Purnell, also established in 2006, gives pride of place to the tourbillon in all its forms. Others in this section are: Armin Strom, Christophe Claret, DeWitt, Grönefeld, HYT, Laurent Ferrier, Ressence, RJ and Speake-Marin.