SIHH 2002 Report
Officine Panerai were kind enough to invite me to the 2002 Geneva SIHH, to see the new range of Panerai watches, and report back to the Paneristi community.
The Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie is the "other" big trade fair of the year. It is held at much the same time as the Basel Fair, and is usually seen as a competitor to, or at least foil to the latter.
The SIHH mostly shows brands from the Richemont group (most notably Cartier), although there are a few others in attendance such as Audemars Piguet and Girard Perregaux. The Geneva Salon differs from Basel in that it is not open to the public, it really is an invitation-only trade fair. 2002 was the first year in which the old SMH brands, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre and A. Lange & Söhne, were present, following their acquisition by Richemont.
The Geneva Salon was held in one of the halls of the Palexpo centre, which is within easy walking distance of the airport.
| The hall is clearly signposted, as is Switzerland's most famous export. |
| ... and it's very clear when you've arrived at the right place. |
On arrival, one presents one's invitation, a photo pass is issued on the spot (guaranteed to emphasise how badly I'm losing my hair!) and after a strict security check one can wander around the central hall.
Each brand has its own characteristic booth. Panerai's was comparatively sedate, with a distinct nautical theme internally.
Off the side of main hall in the booth, there were several conference rooms, where dealers would go to view the new collection, and presumably place an order. I was tempted to try to fill my pockets and run, but was assured I wouldn't get very far!
| I think I've died and gone to Panerai heaven. |
The exhibitor's booths are arranged around the edge of the hall. In the middle were bars serving never-ending free food and drink. On departure from the hall, there were minicabs to ferry people to and from the hotels organised for exhibitors and clients. The whole operation was very well organised, and presumably designed to make the clients as comfortable as possible, and put them in a buying mood.
| Your carriage awaits. |
I stayed in the Hotel Des Bergues, which judging by the number of Aston Martins parked outside was a pretty swanky place.
It was almost definitely the only hotel with a display window for Panerai too. I found this pretty amusing. I think the display is actually advertising a dealership just down the road, although I didn't have time to investigate.
| Hotel Panerai? |
You could step off a plane, walk straight into the exhibition, be ferried to and from a hotel, be constantly fed and watered, and never really step out into the surrounding world; the Salon is an almost hermetically sealed environment. There was very little to suggest that you were in Switzerland, you really could be anywhere, which lent a slightly unreal quality to all the proceedings. The pace was always hectic, with constant meeting and greeting, and even after the selling side has closed down for the day, the entertainment for clients continued well into the night. I recently described the whole Salon to an acquaintance as "a year's worth of schmoozing, for all your clients in the world, packed into a week".
I was only in Geneva for 24 hours, but that was plenty for me!