34th

35th issue -

Edito

Lacquer joins watchmaking’s métiers d’art

Marie-Antoinette adored it; artists of the Art Deco school, among them Jean Dunand (1877-1942), specialised in it. Now watchmaking has embraced the ancestral techniques of lacquer.

- Christophe Roulet -

Focus

Fine Watchmaking’s preservation of the applied arts now extends to Japanese lacquer techniques, as Vacheron Constantin and Van Cleef & Arpels brilliantly demonstrated at the last SIHH.

- Christophe Roulet -

Focus The secret of Japanese "varnish"
Focus The sophistication of maki-e

From our correspondents

London : Aspects of the UK watch trade in 2009 and prospects for 2010

The final report of the successful 20th edition of the SIHH last January provided a good reflection of how things have been for the trade in the United Kingdom in 2009. The summary words are a cliché, but apply very much, hurting in places: ‘belt tightening’.

- Michael Balfour -

Passion

Collection : Time on a cosmic scale

Watchmakers have stars in their eyes, with several brands proposing models that feature an equation of time, sunrise and sunset times, perpetual calendar, a map of the night sky or moonphases. Cosmogonic heaven.

- Christophe Roulet -

From the workbench Audemars Piguet continues to explore high-tech
In history Galileo, the man who revolutionised science

Points of view

Interview : Alain Silberstein pleads in favour of a collaborative model

For the Besançon-based watchmaker, independent creators must make 30% of their sales directly. The remainder must be through a collaborative model in partnership with investors.

- Christophe Roulet -

The expert’s view Louis Moinet has its head in the stars

Echoes

Economy : 2009 exports: all is revealed

Swiss watch exports contracted by almost a quarter in 2009, slipping 22.3% to CHF 13.2 billion. Quentin Simonet gives his analysis of what this means for the industry.

- Quentin Simonet -

In the market Panerai chooses selective distribution
The fight against fakes Cybercounterfeiting: a new growth industry (I)
Ad alert India’s stars work their magic