LVMH Watch Week 2024 in Miami set an optimistic tone for the year ahead. With a discreet increase in Swiss watch exports last year, the mood at the fifth annual event was effervescent. It is a one-group affair, but the six LVMH watchmaking maisons cover a wide market demographic. Here are our highlights, plus an interview with Hublot’s CEO, Ricardo Guadalupe.
Six reveals of LVMH Watch Week 2024
Hublot Big Bang Saxem
Flamboyance is still the unstoppable name of Hublot’s game, and nothing says future-proof grail watch a like sapphire case. There is a particular allure in the never-knowingly-understated brand’s ability to craft a watch case from solid sapphire crystal. But this was not enough for Hublot, which created Saxem, a proprietary sapphire alloy with a bright green hue. CEO Ricardo Guadalupe told us that it took almost two years of R&D to create the uniform colour of this chemical compound successfully. We get it, Ricardo, and can’t help feeling that the green flash of wrist estate symbolises Hublot’s positive outlook on 2024.
Gerald Genta Minute Repeater for Only Watch
As a revived maison led by LVMH’s La Fabrique du Temps, Gérald Genta’s new watches return to the brand’s three pillars of octagonal shapes, chiming sound, and haute horlogerie complications. And honestly, the Disney-tinged dial of its Minute Repeater created for the Only Watch charity auction (postponed from 2023) sends a strong signal. The infinite happiness of Mickey Mouse’s party's presence is an effervescent harbinger of optimism for 2024, and we can’t help smiling.
TAG Heuer
With a delightful blend of high-bar watchmaking and accessible cool, TAG Heuer presented a curated selection of new releases. Retro is still hot for TAG, and we couldn’t help but fall for a reissue of its cult classic Dato Chronograph in a deep emerald green. This is not the first reissue of the asymmetric single-register chronograph, but seen here within the new ‘Glassbox’ case design, this one adds another dimension to its quirky cool.
Zenith
The Chronomaster Sport is dialling up the glamour in its bid for triple-register Chrono supremacy against the mighty Rolex Daytona. Sure, and what’s more Miami than this, the first gem-set version? At the core, it’s a function-packed watch based on the high-beat El Primero chronograph movement. With tri-coloured registers on a gold-toned meteorite dial, it offers a unique wrist presence, but the bezel is the undisputed star. With a blue-to-black and grey progression, diamonds are the cardinal-markers, with spinels, sapphires, and diamonds offering a dazzling flash of colour. Who’s up for another Miami Vice remake?
Daniel Roth
Daniel Roth’s revival by LVMH’s La Fabrique du Temps is a big deal for watch collectors already deep into the horological rabbit hole. With red-carpet stars like Timothée Chalamet enjoying small-cased charm, this indefinable rounded elegance is zeitgeist perfect. As part of the maison’s revival, the Tourbillon Souscription pays perfect homage to the 1989-founded brand’s very first timepiece. The design language is marked by a double-ellipse case shape of 38.6 x 35.5mm in yellow gold, while its hand-finished guilloche dial is a delight of sweeping curves.
Bulgari
From Bulgari in Miami, there was a feeling of studied evolution in the Octo Finissimo range and designer Buonamassa Stigliani’s first yellow brushed gold version of the three-hander. But with a love of retro still lingering in the air, we’re all about the 1980s chic of the Bulgari Bulgari minimalism. Its 38mm of smooth black with gilt markers in an 18ct gold case makes a quiet statement of timeless intent.
Ricardo Guadalupe on LVMH Watch Week and Hublot
Wallpaper* chatted with Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe about the importance of LVMH Watch Week, and how, as one of the top players in the market, his brand perceives 2024 and the event scene in general.
Wallpaper*: What does the event calendar mean for the LVMH watch brands?
Ricardo Guadalupe: In 2020, we launched the first edition of LVMH Watch Week to create momentum for the watch maisons of our group in Dubai. It was a massive success, and all the guests (press and retailers) enjoyed this initiative and the privilege of being informed of what was to be expected from our maisons for the year to come. Then in 2021 and 2022, we maintained the [event], but digitally. For 2023, we went to Asia in Singapore, and for 2024, we wanted to focus on the Americas. The idea is to change the region every year, so this year, we’re in Miami.
W*: How do you view the importance of this own-brand smaller concept vs the grandiose Watches and Wonders?
RG: We are really pleased to have set a trend with LVMH Watch Week since 2020. And by creating momentum in the busy calendar, we would like to further build on this.
W*: What is your view on the economic climate at the start of 2024 and its impact on the direction of Hublot?
RG: After a year of consolidation in 2023, I believe 2024 will be the same, and also it will be an exciting year for Hublot. I look forward to the biggest event in European football – Euro 2024. We will be there to follow every second of the game!
W*: What has the rise of LVMH Watch Week and its position meant for the group?
RG: I can speak for Hublot. It is a great moment for us to be present in the media worldwide and share the exciting upcoming news of our maison with journalists and retailers.
Judging by Guadalupe’s comments and the watches presented by LVMH’s six maisons this week, the mood in watchmaking for 2024 is bright. Louis Vuitton’s own watchmaking novelties are saved for April’s Watches and Wonders 2024, but starting with Hublot’s green sapphire crystal Big Bang, the season is off to a colourful start.
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