In 2022, the watchmaking sphere was in turmoil. Unless they have been sent to another galaxy, no one (or almost) could have forgotten the remarkable release of Swatch which unveiled in collaboration with Omega the aptly named MoonSwatch. In broad outline and as a reminder, this model which unleashed passions (remember the queues in front of Swatch stores like the launch of the new iPhone) is quite simple: the look of the iconic Omega Speedmaster and the price of a Swatch. A major surprise for all lovers and collectors of fine gears, but above all a marketing stroke of genius. Thus, in 2022, Swatch sold more than a million of this horological UFO. Mission greatly accomplished.
Buoyed by this success, Swatch has decided to try the exercise again, as the brand celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year. Various enigmatic advertisements have appeared in recent days in the media. We can see a swimming pool, maps, the drawing of a watch and a date: September 9, 2023. After some speculation revealed on the Internet concerning the house associated this time with Swatch, the mystery has finally been lifted: Blancpain continues the saga with Swatch. Cultivating secrecy, nothing was revealed. However, after the cosmos, we suspect that it is now the abyss that will be the playground of Swatch and Blancpain. Indeed, the latter celebrates this year the seventieth anniversary of the Fifty Fathoms, considered the first modern diver’s watch. So what to expect? Answer this Saturday.
Organized for the first time in 1999 by the Société Nautique of the famous little Mediterranean village, the Voiles de Saint-Tropez is an unmissable event for boating. Magnificent, old and impressive, nearly 250 boats are taking part in the event this year, which will take place from September 29 to October 8, 2023. The event is organized under the high patronage of Rolex. For nearly seventy years, the house with the crown has maintained close ties with the marine world through regattas and numerous yacht clubs, not to mention its watchmaking expertise for the benefit of sports sailing with the launch in 1992 of the Yacht-Master.
Since 2006, Rolex has been the main partner of the Voiles de Saint-Tropez and the official watch of the nautical competition. Each year, the brand awards a special prize: the Rolex Trophy. The latter rewards the winner of a category of sailboats chosen from among the classic boats. For the eighteenth edition of the trophy, Rolex is honoring the category of yawls (fifteen sailboats between 14 and 24 meters with two masts, built between 1890 and 1963). Among them, Stormy Weather, a yawl which in 1935 won the great British classic, the Fastnet Race and crossed the Atlantic Ocean thirty-six times. Manitou will also be there. This ship was notably the property of US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Good luck !
From September 14 to 17 in London, “the Big House” welcomes the public for its show called Golden Ratio Musical Show. Orchestrated in the setting of the Battersea Power Station, the performance, which alternates sound and light effects, celebrates the Golden Number. This proportion, estimated at 1.618, is usually represented by the Greek letter Phi. A mysterious number and a universal symbol of beauty and harmony. Words dear to Jaeger-LeCoultre, which has been based on this mantra since 1931, the year the mythical Reverso watch was released.
Through the prism of its signature model and as part of its Made of Makers program, the brand invited British musician Tokio Myers to compose an original soundtrack inspired by his trip to the Jura mountains that surround the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture. . The sound thus created feeds a dialogue between design and watchmaking without forgetting the light show which completes the show and tells the story of the Golden Number.
