When the Circus (doesn't) Come to Town...

Word reached the North Shore offices (albeit delayed by lack of a press release) that the "Greatest Watch Show That Ever Was..."

Will now never be.

Courtesy of Netflix

The "Fair Formerly Known As Swiss Creative Lab" that had a stranglehold on first the Ramada, then the Hyperon of Basel came a cropper as collateral damage in the wake of BaselWorld's demise. But all was not lost watch fans! A plan was hatched to offer an outdoor event in August in Neuchatel. It would combine watches, pens, jewelry, art (live, performance, and otherwise), and God knows what else. It was to be known as IMAGINATON.

If I am very honest, the first proposed iteration resembled a plate of spaghetti tossed against the wall with the hope of benefiting from what "stuck". Unfortunately, exterior circumstances forced the organizers to cancel the fair and postpone for the next year. And the following year it was postponed again. Finally, 2023 was going to be THE YEAR! The stars had seemed to align, and the organizers were excited to share that IMAGINATION would take place the same week as Watches and Wonders. And that, gentle reader, is exactly why The IMAGINATION fair experienced a third consecutive "failure to launch". 

A simple truth that is one no longer worth fighting - in the war of attrition that was the fight for hearts and minds at the spring Swiss watch fairs, BaselWorld quit the field leaving Watches and Wonders to stake their claim as the dominant show. Last year another pretender emerged - Time To Watches. If there was ever a watch fair with a worse name than IMAGINATION, this was probably it. When asked why a name that appeared so shambolic to native English speakers was chosen, the reply was that when you translated Time To Watches from English to German, it actually sounded cool. Which of course begs the question - why name it in English in the first place? This is why Wes Anderson should never be allowed to organize a watch fair. And without putting too fine a point on it, last year's Time To Watches show was a bit of a turd. Several "pro days" (press and retailers only), one or two days open to the public, and the press only really showing up for the last day, and writing, well, Jack-shit. And Jack had already left town...

At least one of the "big dogs" who availed themselves of the temporary kennel that was the inaugural Time to Watches has already sniffed out greener back yards and moved over to Watches and Wonders where they can pee in the tall weeds with the other "big dogs". So it will be curious to see who avails themselves of the watch show that sounds cool when translated to German. But they might need a better hook than that, and a famous (albeit inconveniently located) university with sub-optimal facilities for hosting a watch fair, or pretty much any trade fair.

For 2023, the definition of Haute Horology has magically expanded to include brands that never would have been deemed so in the good old days of the SIHH. But fear not! The snotty, exclusive, "don't even think of asking for a press invitation" spirit of the SIHH is alive and well with Watches and Wonders. Several media outlets who have been going to the event for YEARS and exhaustively covering the participating brands eagerly opened their Watches and Wonders emails only to find that they had been spurned and would not be receiving an invitation to cross the burning sands to the oasis of all things Haute and Naught. Essentially - "Thanks for your tireless coverage of us, now go get stuffed". Which was a cold cup of coffee even by SIHH/Watches and Wonders standards.

So get ready, we'll all be watching and wondering in a little over a month's time!

Until then, enjoy your watches.

Reheated Leftovers - The Dunning-Kruger Effect

This first ran in April of last year, but judging from the refusal of the denizens of Watch Town to accept and live in reality, it seems like a good time to re-heat these leftovers. While this post was primarily focusing on the rapacious nature of the big groups and the Spring shows, it speaks even more urgently to the glaring lack of self-awareness of the shot callers of Watch Town.

So pour yourself a glass of red, we're having leftovers -

Like any crisis, COVID-19 has laid bare a lot of realities that were probably always there, but that could continue on until external events made it impossible for them to remain unacknowledged.

For those of you unfamiliar, the Dunning-Kruger effect, its name is derived from a study conducted by David Dunning and Justin Kruger back just before the turn of the century (1999). The study exposed a very interesting paradox - in several instances average performing people tended to place themselves in the upper echelons in terms of performance. Curious to relate? In many instances, high performing people tended to down-play their abilities, ranking themselves lower on the scale than their abilities justified.

For those of you who are more visual (and enjoy video over text) here is a fun look at the Dunning-Kruger effect courtesy of Trace Dominguez and After Skool -

Cognitive Bias exists everywhere, and we all struggle with it on many levels.  The recent devolution of BaselWorld into a full-blown 3-ring circus is a great example.  And I want to jump right out of the gate and make clear that BaselWorld is only one of the Ringleaders of this train wreck.  

In Tent Number 1:

Remember the bold words of one mayor of Watch Town who insisted that his brand was special, and didn't actually need a show?  And then like a carpet bagger tried to ease south to Geneva to announce (what in hindsight) was a pretty ham-fisted attempt to grab some press ink with some other like minded mayors for a "mini-show" of carefully curated brands?  (editor's note: along with the use of "my friend" and "timepiece" could we agree to ban the term "curated"?  It's complete and utter bullshit.)  

In Tent Number 2:

If Animal Farm were ever to be re-told with denizens of Watch Town as the protagonists, the advent of the FHH show would be familiar.

George Orwell Animal Farm

Here's the thing, you don't tug on Superman's cape.  It was pretty foolhardy of the BaselWorld organizers to assume that they could try to give Rolex and Patek an "Atomic Wedgie" -

Courtesy of the Simpsons

Now I cannot claim to know or understand every thought process or motivation that runs through the storied hallways of Big Green in Geneva.  I respect my place in the hierarchy ; )

But what I can say is this - while Rolex, Tudor, Patek and Chanel had every right to pick up their tents and move them south, let's not misconstrue that as a blow for the Proletariat of Watch Town.  The "letter of secession" makes it pretty clear that these four brands made their decision based on what would work for them.  Several other not-so-fancy brands may not be invited to join the party.

And ladies and gentlemen, train your eyes to the center ring here in the Big Top:
BaselWorld was clearly living in a different reality than a lot of the larger brands that were willing to continue to pay the price to be there.  And truthfully?  These are some of the real victims in this three-ring shit-show.  If you are a Richemont brand?  You are safe, Watches and Wonders has you covered.  If you are viewed "luxurious and exclusive enough"?  Not a problem, FHH will certainly deem you worthy and you can join them.  But what about some of those other big, notable, and dare I say it - POPULAR brands that actually sell a LOT of watches?  Where do they get to go?  

You get the idea.

Now I still like my personal crack-pot theory that Hayek the Younger has been sitting back in his stronghold in the Biel/Bienne hinterlands, biding his time and waiting to come back to BaselWorld. But then again, I have frequently been guilty of the Dunning-Kruger Effect ; )

And.... That's 2 Down

Word reached the North Shore this afternoon that Watches and Wonders has opted to do a "Sleeping Beauty" for 2021 and preemptively - and WISELY decided to cancel the 2021 show. The show will go on, albeit online. Although I am not on the Richemont Christmas card list, I respect this decision and it was the right thing to do.

But as with dominoes, where one falls they tend to take others with them. A quick visit to the website for Inhorgenta in Munich has also run up a white flag, that is at least if the event calendar is anything to go by as the dates that had previously (and recently) announced to coincide with Watches and Wonders are now on the Messe-Muenchen website as postponed - 

https://messe-muenchen.de/en/technical/events/index.php/events/calendar/

And I suspect that Hour Universe will be changing their slogan to "It Will Be We Time...Maybe... Someday..."

And just Imagine!  Well, it's gonna' take a LOT of Imagination, and blindly stubborn faith to move forward with the proposed show in Lausanne.  Well, let's imagine that maybe 2022 will be luckier.  I imagine it can't be any worse than this year - imagine that!