From 29 September to 31 October 2020, the southeast China resort of Sanya on the island of Hainan, plays host to Watches & Wonders; a luxury watches exhibition, educational event and brand showcase featuring the latest creations from eleven exhibiting Maisons, inside the sprawling China Duty Free Group mall.

 

The exhibitors comprise the following: A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Hermès, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget, Montblanc, Roger Dubuis, and Vacheron Constantin.

 

Workshops, talks and introductions to watchmaking are also part of the programme for this second date in China. As reported, the event took place in Shanghai last year.

 

This second event in China carries on the collaboration between the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) and the China Duty Free Group (CDFG).

 

WATCHMAKING WORKSHOPS

Their alliance was marked by a ‘Cloud’ Signing Ceremony on 17 September, held simultaneously in Beijing and Geneva.

Visitors to the event, which opened on 29 September, can discover the new collections that were shown in April on the watchesandwonders.com digital platform and in Shanghai, early September.

They will also be able to take advantage of unique interactions with the exhibiting Maisons, such as witnessing watchmaking first-hand at workshops and gain insight into some of the key issues for the watch industry at the many talks.

 

After the first three days, reserved for the media and VIP customers, the event opens to a wider public, in particular collectors and enthusiasts, who can learn more about watches and watchmaking thanks to an experiential and educational programme, with full safety measures in place.

 

FULL SCHEDULE OF TALKS

The programme includes 90-minute hands-on workshops, where visitors can observe watchmakers take apart then reassembling a mechanical movement. Each session, for up to ten people, will be delivered in Chinese by an FHH-approved instructor.

 

In terms of immersive experiences, through the collaboration with the exhibiting Maisons, visitors can, for example, try IWC’s ‘Cyberloupe’; a digitalised magnifier that enables them to see a movement exactly as the watchmaker sees it, or Piaget’s Infinitely Personal configurator for ultimate personalisation of an Altiplano watch, from the case material to the dial colour and gem setting.

 

A full schedule of talks is now under way, kicked off with a panel discussion by influential figures in China and the watch world, debating changes taking place in the country’s watch market.

 

Other topics relating to developments in the sector, including a presentation of new models and trends for 2020, will also come under discussion. Talks are led in Chinese by an FHH expert.

 

And for those who aren’t able to be in Sanya, all the latest trends and new models for 2020 are featured on the watchesandwonders.com online platform, as well as on social media.