The 32nd Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair: broad, colourful styling

Four thematic zones for the high-end brands

The fair opened in September and featured more than 750 exhibitors from China, Hong Kong and around the world. It attracted nearly 19,000 buyers, up 7% over last year. Buyer growth came from the Philippines (+46%), the Chinese mainland (+25%), Brazil (+18%), Australia (+16%) and Indonesia (+13%).
The fair’s highly successful Brand Name Gallery was replaced by the expanded new Timepiece Extravaganza in a dedicated and prestigious hall. More than 140 high-end brands shared four thematic zones:

• World Brand Piazza sponsored by Prince Jewellery & Watch Co featuring world renowned European brands
• Chic & Trendy for lifestyle, fashionable labels and stylish watches
• Renaissance Moment for classic brands originating in Europe
• Craft Treasure for functional mechanical and jewellery watches

The participating brands at this year’s World Brand Piazza were Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Breguet, Chopard, Franck Muller, Glashütte Original, H. Moser, Hublot, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget, Ulysse Nardin and Zenith. These already well-recognised Swiss and German brands produce signature creations, grand complications, limited editions and bejewelled masterpieces. “Today’s consumers are particularly discerning about watch brands,” said HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau. “This means that promoting brands will become a key part of development. The new Timepiece Extravaganza, an expanded version of Brand Name Gallery, was set up with this in mind, to attract more international exhibitors and buyers.”

Chinese watchmakers: a huge advance of quality and finish

The big, serious Chinese watchmakers such as Sea-Gull, Shanghai Watch and Beijing Watch, as at Baselworld, make their own way with independent stands which do not require any categorical exposure. Their high-end product is superb and every year shows a growing understanding of how to be up there with the Swiss. What we can see year by year is a huge advance of quality and finish. The plates are nicely decorated with good spotting, sunburst and Geneva stripes, although bevelling of the edges or ‘anglage’ polishing is still mostly absent. This may be a conscious choice but western eyes may prefer the traditional “Swiss” finish. Notwithstanding, we should never underestimate the Chinese: if they believed that decorative bevelling or polished doming were needed, then it would be done or the capability developed. At this 2013 Hong Kong fair we certainly noted the speed of change and advances in sophistication and artistic subtlety.

For 2013, Beijing Watch Factory’s new product is named Wu Ji, (“Infinite Universe”). The movement is independently developed by Beijing Watch Factory and is a very serious advance in Chinese complicated movements. Wu Ji is equipped with a two-tourbillon system. One is a classical eccentric tourbillon located at 10 o’clock and another is a double-axis 3D tourbillon located at 5 o’clock. The 3D tourbillon rotates around its Z-axis once per minute and also rotates around another vertical X+25 degree axis once per 7.5 minutes. The 3D tourbillon, with a 25-degree incline of the vertical axis, is amazingly beautiful.

Another feature is the 180 degree backward structure of the hour and minute hands. The backward system is not only interesting but also has practical usage since the 3D tourbillon is higher than the watch face – and the space is needed. The Wu Ji has additional functions of a 50-hour power-reserve indicator at 1 o’clock, backward calendar and, through the crystal back, a moon phase window. The moon phase window is made of enamel, and the charming blue and silver is both elegant and enchanting.

Small-quantity orders

By far the largest volume of watches exported from China is in low price-point categories. They have a short survival rate when the mercurial penchant of society quickly trashes them for something newer – but the Chinese have always been quick to adjust. Flexibility is a major strength of the Chinese makers. An independent survey revealed that buyers and exhibitors alike expect fashion watches, slim designs and jumbo-sized cases will have the highest growth potential in the coming year, with quartz watches and metal dials being the most popular. As for product development, buyers and exhibitors consider brand licensing of watches and limited-edition collections the best strategies. The survey also looked into the sourcing patterns of buyers. Most buyers said that they maintain a small inventory and prefer a shorter delivery lead time. They tend to place small-quantity orders: 85% of buyers source fewer than 1,000 pieces per order.

Responding to market demand, a Small Order Zone was set up at the fair with orders available for between 20 to 1,000 pieces. The zone attracted more than 7,000 buyers during the fair, generating over 10,000 business connections. An excellent example of someone with understanding of the opportunities available in Hong Kong and China comes from Adrien Choux, founder of The Chinese Timekeeper in 2008. He is aware of the value of this strategy and all the models in his quite unique collection are limited editions. His Hong Kong-based company specialises in Chinese luxury timepieces, each inspired by elements of an ancient astronomical clock tower built in Kaifeng, Henan Province, in the 11th century. It was said by historian Joseph Needham that “…the great Chinese clocks constitute an unsuspected missing link between the early water-clocks and later mechanical clocks found in the West.”

Today, Adrien Choux says “modern timepieces must tell tales as well as count the hours. If we create a watch with gold and try to compete with those famous Swiss brands, we will never succeed. My idea was to create a watch that was very easy to recognise. This brand has a unique design and a very strong story. I want to establish it as a global brand and it takes much patience and determination to do this. Twenty years ago, no one would buy Japanese cars. Now some of the best cars are from Japan. For watches, of course, it is time for Chinese brands to emerge now. But there is still a very strong stigma against Chinese products. This is our main challenge.”

An export/import/export round-robin through Hong Kong

Developing a new Chinese watch brand is a continuing challenge even in this bourgeoning, cashed-up market. Philosophically the HKW&CF is a bizarre two-way street. As we visit Hong Kong for the fair we assume it is there to sell “China Made” to us as we peer into China watchmaking through the unique portal this provides. But in an intriguing twist, Hong Kong and mainland China uses this fair aggressively to sell back into the huge Chinese mainland markets. Hong Kong brands are highly regarded on the mainland despite that it is almost all manufactured in south (mainland) China and watches return to China labelled ‘Made in Hong Kong’ after an export/import/export round-robin through Hong Kong.

Each year in conjunction with the fair, the HKTDC conducts the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Design Competition. This is the 30th year of this competition and the Open Group Champion was Tam Kwok Tung. His winning entry – “Face/Off” – features a bezel that works like the retractable roof of a roadster. The watch opens and closes to allow for the replacement of movements and dials, depending on the occasion or the mood of the wearer.

The Student Group top prize went to Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Lee Wai Lee)’s Cheung Sui Cheung. His winning watch design – “Shuttle” – was created as a tribute to the Russian space programme’s 1961 launch of the first man into space. The sleek watch has hour and minute hands that slide on independent tracks, as if the watch were a shuttle travelling through space. The 28 winners and finalists of this year’s design competition were on display at the fair.