We began as we ended on day one at Watches and Wonders Geneva, fixating on Patek Philippe, then moving on to concepts and our fixation on all things calendar-related. As mentioned, our bet this year was on some kind of calendar innovation and Patek Philippe delivered with Ref. 5330G, the manufacture’s first worldtimer with date synched up with local time, as reported yesterday. You might actually remember that we covered this watch last year, or a version of it at any rate. You could read that story for a full brief on this because we will be going big on Ref. 5378/1R-001 first. For this story though, it will be Ref. 5330G because most of the world seems to have missed out on the previous Ref.5330G-010 (read about it to find out why, if you cannot recall).
Read More: Patek Philippe Unveils Ref. 5330G-010 At The 2023 Tokyo Watch Art Grand Exhibition
Another family that will interest collectors is the Twenty~4, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. An amazingly popular collection, these two special models are destined to become collectibles (quartz movements notwithstanding but that is a personal bias). One could play Ref. 5378 as a jewellery watch too but this is to misunderstand its potential. The Golden Ellipse is one of those models whose potential we have always been harping on, but its bracelet has some issues. Well, those have now been fixed. Wait for our report on this (this is the Internet so you can find it anywhere you get your horological fixes).
Read More: Watches and Wonders Geneva 2024: Day 1 Highlights
Moving on, as the fair rolled around, many a watch journalist will have been weighing a somewhat perplexing question; if you love creativity in watchmaking, this one will have made you look up ambivalent in your dictionary. Of course, the question is not whether we should bring you the news about the Vacheron Constantin Egerie The Pleats of Time concept watch. Here it is after all. You may not have clicked on the image or the header and expected this watch but there is no way to avoid this one since it is the only proper concept watch we have seen (so far). No, the question is when to make this reveal and we will go with now.
Basically, this is a watch with a sense of fine watchmaking and a scent to go with it (it also boasts a sense of style as it references haute couture directly). The watch head itself has not been treated with some sort of chemical or anything; instead, there are ampules in the strap that release a signature scent by perfumer Dominique Ropion. We are told that it all works as a response to the wearer’s movements and, once more, this is a concept watch. We confess though that we are taken by the idea of being able to sense time differently – in a completely novel way.
Finally, this was a watch we saw on our first day but it will get its own story soon anyway. Well, it is an entire collection actually and we are quite sure it will be the WOW Festive issue cover story. We are referring of course to the new Parmigiani Fleurier Toric, which is one of our top collection picks of Watches and Wonders Geneva 2024. In this overall fair story, we reserve unqualified praise for the Toric Petite Seconde 40mm watch. This latest lease of life for the collection that started everything for Parmigiani Fleurier in 1996 is offered only in gold, with gold cases, gold dials and (mostly) gold movements.
For more on the luxury watch reads and the latest in Watches and Wonders Geneva 2024, click here.
