Russell Sheldrake
It took me a while to recover from this year’s clock and wonder. And partly thanks to being on a week’s path with the Baltic Sea when we tore France along the way following the Tour Auto. But now we are back to normal and our sleep schedule is back to normal, so it’s always a good idea to film what we see and understand what it means to the industry as a whole.
Big brands are back
Last year I made the Palexpo feel pretty flat. There have been no highly exciting releases that promoted excitement and positivity for the industry, but this year it appears to be spoiled for choice. Of course, the biggest headline is Rolex Land Residents, and the new product lines that go into the Rolex catalog are always big news, but the fact that they did so with new and innovative moves shows that, as always, Rolex is building for the future and has taken a big step towards that this year. The new caliber 7135 and its newly designed escape have been praised as the next big leap in industrial surveillance, and it is impressive to see Rolex commit to complex, high-frequency motion (5Hz) that could act as the foundation of future Caribourg, as it is well beyond the clock of over a million a year.
But to say that Rolex is impressive to be committed to something financially is probably a slight exaggeration. They are the dominant force in the industry, and depending on who you ask, the unprecedented market share is around 30%. That’s when we went outside the Crown domain and saw other big box brands that have been moving this year and really left an impression on me. The next biggest headline came from Vacheron Constantin, along with the new Solaria, the world’s most complex watch. While this release can be considered quite logical from last year’s brand release of the world’s most complicated pocket watches, it was still impressive. Some people believed it was a unique piece, as it was almost impossible to get out of that case with just one in the stand. In fact, it’s just a unique configuration, suggesting that the VC intends to make more of these surprisingly overly complex watches.
The fact that brands like Vacheron have confidence in pursuing expensive projects like Solaria reveals that others are not moving away from obviously high-cost projects, indicating that they have confidence in the industry. For example, consider Grand Seiko. The collector praised the postponement of microadjustment on the clasp, but that was a new UFA move that I paused. I have Zach explain the details of the new Ice Forest SLGB001 and SLGB003 in his dedicated article, but these new advances prove that the brand is still committed to advancements in Spring Drive technology.
Underlying current
Even before US tariffs became a fair topic, we were rough in 12 months, so there was still a healthy amount of attention around most brands. I felt the emotion was similar to what I had voiced after speaking out about Geneva’s era at executive level last year. Of course, every brand has strategies to navigate this time, but the mere presence of these strategies gives me concern.
And the tariffs were won, and it seemed at first glance that all people could talk after asking each other what they thought about the land residents. The situation was uncertain, but now it appears that they are taking a little more clear picture of how it will shake as it continues to develop. But after talking to people from big and small brands, there is a surprising contradiction with how brands plan to deal with the tariffs being added to products sold in the world’s largest watch market. Some people came out and moved Smart PR saying it would absorb all the costs, while others seemed to be very quiet and waiting for it. This is a great opportunity for brands to generate goodwill in a very important market, and while Americans love travel and shopping while traveling, buying from home is far more important to the Swiss watch industry. And if the US is hit hard after the Chinese market collapses, the industry will seriously struggle.
Money doesn’t go anywhere
When I entered the fair, I felt that I could see a lack of money in novelties thanks to recent price increases. The brand chooses to keep costs down and allow catalog prices to stabilize in the current climate. But A. Whether it’s a perfect gold bracelet watch from Lange & Söhne, Rolex, Jaeger-Lecoultre, or a great example of dress watches from Patek Philippe, Chopard, and Cartier, I was amazed at the amount of precious metals on display.
This year there was no shortage of valuable metals, which was also seen in a wide range of price categories. Whether it’s the new Rolex 1908 for 35,000 euros on a full gold bracelet or the Honey Gold Odysseus at 120,000 euros Lange, it even made its appearance in the Patek Ref. The 5308 features a white gold case that reaches over 1 million people. I enjoy the brands continuing to work with gold and precious metals, but that often leads to watches that break out of most people’s budgets. It shows that there is always an ambitious aspect to a market based on tradition and Goldsmith’s creativity.
Is it too thin?
The story that many on the Palexpo floors seem to have passed was that Bulgari took the 10th thinnest record in the new Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon. They reached double numbers, so perhaps people went ahead? The technical feat is undoubtedly impressive, but it appears that little has been mentioned among the rest of the press. There may have been some expectations regarding this announcement, but I certainly didn’t have much conversation about it.
For me, this also speaks to the broader trends I have noticed recently across the industry. Innovation and the world number one are truly celebrated only when it is seen as having a real impact on the end consumer. Take the new Dynapulse movement – this is a major step forward in the manufacturing of industrial movements, but the ability to shave millimeter fractions from the tour bilon continues to excite small, small circles. It follows me as a part of me who loves to see the competitive spirit among watch brands. This feels like one of the few battlefields where they continue to compete openly.
Increased number
It’s always interesting to see emails from the organizing device all at once every year. It’s great to see the continued growth of interest in clocks as the number of participants continues to grow. As we are undergoing a tough year globally, we hope this will hopefully mark a positive sign of what is coming. But there was talk that if there were too many attendees, at least the number of people there is out of control. There were reports of overcrowding on weekdays, where industry and press were needed, and people there were blocking people who were there to work.
Over 55,000 people have walked to Palexpo this year, but rather encouragement, 23,000 people paid tickets over the weekend to see the 60 exhibit brands. With only 1,600 journalists in attendance, I wonder where the other 30,000 people came from. This week is the biggest of the year for us to monitor journalists, and it may be difficult enough to book every appointment you want when you want. I’m not sure if there’s a better portrayal in bookings or if there’s a day when people can come next year, but it’s great to see a better system that 2026 will come.
That memo would also be great to have some consistency in the era of lifting the aver bullet to start this week. The decision to go in the middle of the night caused some confusion among our team as everything was planned for a standard morning lift. This seemed to cater to other brands that lifted Empagh in the middle of the night, but it was probably more of a personal grievance than a comment about the state of the industry.
