Watches and Wonders 2022 Day 1 Highlights
Showstoppers make a comeback on day one of WOW and LUXUO’s coverage of the world’s most important watch fair.
We’re at Watches & Wonders Geneva, and there’s a lot to get through on day one of the world’s most important watch and jewellery fair. First off, it is great to be back in Geneva for a proper physical watch fair, a sentiment that was echoed across many brands that we saw on the first day.
Let me begin with Rolex, because of course… well, everyone who expected a new Oyster Perpetual Air-King will be pretty pleased with themselves, so good job Jenni Elle. Her predictions from the teaser were spot on so check that out… One thing absolutely no one predicted was a new left-handed Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II. In a word, the watch is trippy, or maybe just a trip.
Ok I’ll say one more thing about Rolex today and that is that all the kids stay in the picture. No watch has been discontinued but there’s a small wrinkle there that I’ll leave for another time.
I want to spend a moment talking about a watch you probably can’t have. This is the Grand Seiko Kodo SLGT003, which is the first constant force tourbillon from the brand, with calibre 9ST1 fully skeletonised. It’s big, it’s bold, and it is a genuine showstopper. I literally cannot remember the rest of the Grand Seiko presentation. Okay just kidding but we will leave the rest of the Grand Seiko novelties to another video. I’d like to say though that we need more watches like the Kodo — watches that make your heart race.
On a similar note, TAG Heuer also blew my mind with its new Carrera Plasma. Just look at it. That crown is fashioned out of a single lab-grown diamond. In fact, the dial is actually a grown bed of diamonds, and there are diamonds set into the aluminium case. One can truly say that all the diamonds used here are lab grown, or deliberately developed by human ingenuity. Alongside a noteworthy Aquaracer, the most recent TAG Heuer novelties will certainly get a closer look in another post.
Finally, Hermès also wowed us with a superlative traveller’s watch, the Hermès Arceau Le Temps Voyageur. The manufacture worked with Chronode to develop the watch but it is definitely a pure Hermès Horologer creation.
For more watch reads, click here.
