HK's date with Swiss timepieces

JUST how important is Asia to the makers of high-end Swiss watches? Enough for the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie - an organisation dedicated to preserving the craft and traditions of high-end watchmaking - to head east as it takes its annual Geneva-held Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) halfway across the world to stage an intimate edition of it in Hong Kong. After all, Asia remains the No 1 market for Swiss watches.

Watches and Wonders (W&W), which ended last Saturday, is the first watch fair of its kind to be staged outside Switzerland but unlike SIHH, it was less trade-oriented and more customer-focused.

The invitation-only, four-day event featured 13 of the world's biggest and most recognisable watch Maisons - A.Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels - all under one roof at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The brands are also SIHH regulars.