Simply Abu Dhabi XXIX

S IMPLY T IME The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie 2018 was distinguished not only by some spectacular new watch releases, but also for a renewed sense of confidence in the luxury watchmaking industry. By Nick Rice T he 28th edition of SIHH saw six prestigious brands make a welcome entrance: Hermès, Armin Strom, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, DeWitt, élégante by F.P. Journe and Romain Gauthier. The total number of exhibitors is now 35, comprising 18 historic Maisons and 17 brands in the Carré des Horlogers. Fabienne Lupo, The Director of the SIHH, says, “We had almost 20,000 people attending the show over five days. We are very happy with the figures, including the hashtag #SIHH2018. We have a great engagement regarding digital... with more than 400,000 posts. We wanted to be more connected and more digital and have a big resonance in the world.” Affordability and innovation were key themes and it also saw the famously traditional industry take a bold step towards a digital future. Lupo adds, “We wanted to be more open to the public and the end customers and to the clients and to digital media. This edition was a first step in this orientation and of course we want to go further. Seeing the success of this first step I’m sure we will have more ideas for 2019.” We select some of the notable novelties from a wealth of stunning new watches launched at SIHH.