China, which weighed on watch exports at end 2022, will be the key to activity in 2023, a year that opens with mixed prospects. Will China’s impact on luxury sales be as great as in 2021?

Not only did exports hit a record high; 2022 proved to be a great year for the sheer scope of new releases. Brands had every category brilliantly covered. Part Two of a roundup of some of the watches that debuted in 2022.

Not only did exports hit a record high; 2022 proved to be a great year for the sheer scope of new releases. Brands had every category brilliantly covered. Part One of a roundup of some of the watches that debuted in 2022.

In Paris, Vacheron Constantin presented the most recent additions to its Métiers d’Art collection. They are the latest illustration of the collaboration, since 2019, between the Geneva-based Manufacture and the Musée du Louvre. This quartet of limited series looks to emblematic works by ancient civilisations and is a reminder of the extraordinary heights achieved in the artistic realm of watchmaking.

The Genevan Manufacture presents Les Cabinotiers Westminster Sonnerie – Tribute to Johannes Vermeer, a pocket watch that was eight years in the making. Despite its apparent simplicity, this is a masterful achievement as much for the complexity of its grande sonnerie mechanism as for the remarkable hand-executed decoration.

With Swiss watch exports to the United States rising 20% over the first five months of the year compared with 2019, the US has a lot to offer. Despite being a “difficult” market for Swiss brands to work in, it represents a welcome complement to China.

Apart from brands such as Alpina or Montblanc that have a name to live up to, few watchmakers are convinced of the commercial potential of mountains. Which leaves Rolex with a clear route to the top.

For the 100th anniversary of the American 1921, Vacheron Constantin has recreated the original watch using only techniques and tools from a century ago. The fifteen-month project began with a deep dive into the Manufacture’s archives and its stock of period components.

For women or for men, a watch is still a watch. As consumers reject traditional gender divides, more brands are emphasising why their watches can be worn by both sexes.