T
he event was first announced in December .It was formally announced during a presentation at SIHH, held on January 15 – 19. The annual luxury watch fair is one of the two most important trade fair in the world. The weekend of February 16 was chosen as it is a holiday weekend (President’s Day). The popular Miami Yacht Show is also being held during this time, nearby on Collins Avenue.
The officials see a luxury watch show as compatible with a luxury boat show. In addition, it's the time of year that Miami receives a lot of tourists from South America. A new Swiss luxury watch exhibition is expected to enter the U.S. that will incorporate entertainment, education and the modern timepieces from a few of the world’s renowned brands.
Watches & Wonders Miami will be held from February 16 – 19 at the Miami Design District, a hub for art, fashion and luxury. The public event is in collaboration with the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), a Geneva-based organization that promotes top notch watch-making globally.
FHH is best-known for the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), an annual luxury watch trade fair in Geneva. A total of 21 watch brands are participating in this inaugural event, including A. Lange & Sohne, Audemars Piguet, Bulgari, Cartier, Hermès, Hublot, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Louis Vuitton, Panerai, Piaget, Tag Heuer, Vacheron Constantin and Van Cleef & Arpels.
Fifteen of the 21 brands already have retail spaces in the Design District. The remaining organizations will set up pop-up stores in the district for the weekend. This will also include workshops, lectures and virtual reality experiences. There’s also a multi-media exhibition, “Telling Time,” involving nine films, and dramatic performance works by international contemporary artists.
Luxury brands and remaining brand names associated with the world of wristwatches will also have their own exclusive events. For example, Bulgari is bringing the most skilled watchmaker to its showroom in the design district for a distinct studio. The auction house Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo will exhibit highlights from its upcoming Spring 2018 auctions—including a selection of Rolex Daytonas from it's Daytona Ultimatum sale.
Paul Boutros, Phillips’ head of Watches, Americas, will host a seminar on the market for vintage watches and the auction process for collectors. Wristwatches are the focus of the event but there will be other activities as well.
Prominently, the inaugural Miami Design District Concours on February 17, that will feature more than 125 fascinating and collectible automobiles, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley and Rolls Royce.
A grand opening party will be held on February 16 with a musical performance produced by Grammy Award-winner Emilio Estefan. The Miami Design District is an 18-block neighborhood and offers a variety of shopping avenues wholeheartedly focusing on creative fashion, design, art and architecture. It also caters to dining entertainment and public art installations.
The district is the creation of Miami Beach real estate developer and art collector Craig Robins, CEO of Dacra Development. He also co-founded Design Miami, an international design show held during Art Basel Miami Beach.
