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In the watch industry, face-to-face conversations in back rooms are still very popular, and it should be noted that the CEOs of the LVMH Group would have preferred the week they present their news to be face-to-face.
Last year they met with dealers and journalists at the Bulgari Resort in Dubai, a fresh breeze from the sea made for a relaxed atmosphere, and the fact that an unparalleled thunderstorm fell from the sky on the night of the big party did not dampen the mood.
But what does it do?
The pandemic has forced those responsible to rethink, and so Ricardo Guadalupe from Hublot, Jean-Christophe Babin from Bulgari and Julien Tornare from Zenith digitally from Geneva.
Nobody really got any younger in the past year, but each of them can credibly assure you: We have tackled the challenges that the virus brings with it and have got the maximum out of our factories and boutiques that were temporarily closed.
Cool pomp: Bulgari "Diva's Dream Peacock Dischi"
Source: Bulgari
For their presentations, the three people in charge play films from their factories - they act as the main actors themselves, that's how much ego there has to be.
At Hublot, Guadalupe strolls through his workshops as if through a technical wonderland, in which futuristic devices and serious people make materials and works possible that have never existed before.
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That is the core of the identity of this brand, not only to polish up the tradition more and more, but to try out fundamentally new approaches.
That is why the presentation is also staggered according to the degree of innovation of the models: The power reserve miracle “Big Bang MP-11” is now also available in a variant made from the company's own scratch-resistant “Magic Gold” alloy.
Hublot's “Big Bang MP-11 Magic Gold” has a 14-day power reserve
Source: Hublot
Ceramic competence is demonstrated with three versions of the “Big Bang Integral”, Hublot's first watch with a link bracelet presented in 2020.
The new versions have a case and strap made of high-tech ceramic in dark blue, white and a shade of gray.
Relatively subtle for Hublot, in whose laboratories materials in cheerful red and bright blue have already been developed.
But the serious tones are the safer way to achieve the stated goal of delivering at least 20 percent of watches with link bracelets in a few years.
Hublot can also build cases from sapphire glass, either crystal clear or brightly colored.
The new orange hue is almost a minor matter with the “Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic”: Because sapphire is also used on the movement bridges, the caliber is largely transparent and emphasizes its unusual geometry with a micro-rotor at 12 o'clock and the tourbillon at 6 o'clock .
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Babin reports to Bulgari from his desk in Rome to initially announce a lot of good news.
It was a record year for his company, at least if you look at the market shares.
And this much is certainly correct: With models made of aluminum in 2020, Bulgari most consistently pursued the goal of attracting young audiences and leaving familiar territory.
Bulgari's “Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT” is flat and in steel
Source: Bulgari
This year, however, the current steel trend is being used for men's watches: the ultra-flat “Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT” was previously only available in a titanium version.
Because its color, low weight and high price are not for everyone, a version with a steel case and strap is now available.
The manufactory's talking piece, however, is only briefly held in the picture (“fresh out of the oven”) and will not be presented in detail until later: The “Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon”, a minute repeater whose striking mechanism is observed with three hammers through the skeletonized dial can.
The “Diva's Dream Peacock” ladies' watch with a marquetry dial made of peacock feathers, which shows the time “mysterieuse” without a pointer, can only be seen briefly - but long enough to prove that the house, in addition to geometric reduction, is still Dominates opulence.
Nice and complicated: Bulgari "Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon"
Source: Bulgari
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After this turn to the factory, CEO Jean-Christophe Babin chats online from Rome with Kris Wu, a Chinese actor and rapper who also has a Canadian passport.
That certainly makes the most sense in business, but does every journalist really care whether the man has never been to the workshops in Neuchâtel?
A minor matter, because a strategy is only good if you are ready to implement it.
Zenith CEO Julien Tornare makes his own way through the historic factory building in Le Locle, which has been a World Heritage Site since 2009, and invokes the company's credo of being the first wherever possible.
An allusion to the company's “El Primero” chronograph caliber, of course, which caused a sensation over 50 years ago and is now being presented in an “ultimate evolutionary stage”, as the “EP 3600”.
It will first be used in the new, robust “Chronomaster Sport”.
The design, explains Heritage Manager Laurence Bodenmann, cites Zenith chronographs from different eras.
The new movement offers a 60-hour power reserve and a stop-second; the switching processes of the significantly enlarged column wheel and the lateral clutch can be observed through the glass bottom.
Quotes the company's history: Zenith "Chronomaster Sport White Dial"
Source: Zenith
The main news, however, is that the “Chronomaster Sport” makes it possible to read the time, which is accurate to the tenth of a second, at a glance.
To do this, the central stop hand rotates once within ten seconds over the dial, pointing to the 100 divisions of the ceramic bezel.
Totalizers at 3 and 6 o'clock count elapsed seconds and minutes.
With a diameter of 41 millimeters, the new chronograph is suitable for both men and women, emphasizes Tornare - and promises that there will be more over the year.
Anyone who knows the manufacturers in the LVMH group knows: These are definitely not empty words.
You can find all episodes of our column “Ten Minutes of Time” here.