48 THE MODERNIST
THE GAME CHANGE – LVMH WATCH FAIR IN DUBAI WORDS WEI KOH The LVMH Dubai Watch Week setup at Bulgari Hotel, where invited guests were treated to a showing of some of the most innovative watchmaking in the industry today byBvlgari,Hublot and Zenith. The man who spoke of the desert’s potential most eloquently, T.E. Lawrence, is renowned for saying, “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.” And though we were seated at night in, of all places, a bucolic restaurant by the river the day before the Baselworld fair in March of 2019, it was clear that Bvlgari CEO Jean- Christophe Babin had been dreaming in the day with open eyes. He explained, “What is clear is that late April is too late. You are practically midyear. I think we have to move our presentation to January, right at the beginning of the year.” And after he had discussed the idea with LVMH Group’s equally dynamic head of the watch and jewelry division, Stéphane Bianchi, the two men decided to strike decisively. They would stage the first-ever LVMH-specific watch exhibition that would take place in January. Babin explained, “The idea of Dubai came about quite quickly and organically. Dubai is the perfect intersection for the world. It is almost equidistant from America, Europe and Asia, and so, it would guarantee that the journey would not be too long or arduous for anyone. Second, Dubai is one of the most modern, dynamic and sophisticated cities in the world with tremendous infrastructure to support such an event. And third, we operate the Bvlgari Hotel in Dubai, which we felt would elevate the tone of the event to another level. It would be the perfect expression of our vision of luxury in one cohesive message.” From the perspective of strategic advantage, the January LVMH exhibition was also a master stroke because, for many of the brands, they would be showing watches that they would deliver before the competing group’s events, Watches & Wonders Geneva and Baselworld, have even begun. The one brand that didn’t show at the fair was TAG Heuer because, as Bianchi explained, “We had already decided last year to make our watches available to buy the very day that they were launched at Baselworld. As such, we decided to keep to this strategy.” Says one renowned retailer, “The idea for the January show backed by rapid delivery times was brilliant, because straight off, they would be taking a large percentage of our budgets off the table. By the time we attended the other fairs, we would be committed. And by the time these other fairs started, retailers could already be selling delivered Bvlgari, Hublot and Zenith watches, and bringing strong revenue and profit based on new releases into our businesses, which we would otherwise have to delay until midyear or beyond.” However, the plan hinged on one key factor: for it to succeed, the brands would have to produce watches that were sexy enough to compel people to part with their money. The watches would not only have to compel retailers, but also, through the media, the consumers, to overcome their impulse control sufficiently enough for them to dig into their wallets and pay for them. So the question is, were the brands able to do this? Did they create adequately compelling watches to make all this effort pay off? In the words of Revolution USA’s editor-atlarge, Adam Craniotes, “F**k yes, they did.” DUBAI WATCH WEEK HIGHLIGHTS Let’s begin with Bvlgari and the single-most-photographed and -lauded timepiece of the entire fair, which was the steel black-dial Octo Finissimo on the brand’s patented bracelet with its signature integrated clasp. Before we start looking at this timepiece, let’s take something into consideration: two of the world’s most coveted luxury watches were also the first modern two integrated-bracelet sports watches ever made, the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 and Audemars Piguet THE MODERNIST 49
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INNOVATIONS IN THE INDUSTRY: HUBLOT
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INNOVATIVE MATERIALS Hublot’s inn
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A TRUE SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY This m
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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING RETAIL-SMAR
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A SPECIAL HOUSE Parmigiani CEO Davi
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128 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
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STRIVING FOR HONESTY A Breitling am
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to California to visit Joshua Tree,
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VINTAGE Bona fide style icon and fo
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HOW LASER WELDING WORKS 1. A series
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