It should go without saying that we love watch fairs – you probably do too. Right off the bat, we are on the same page then, literally and figuratively. Of course, this story is about a very special sort of watch event for us because it is, primarily, IAMWATCH, organised by The Hour Glass right here in Singapore, just off Orchard Road.

Yes, a global shopping hub played host to some of the hottest and decidedly non-commercial horological activity in the region. And yes, the irony of it all is not lost on anyone. Also, we say primarily because IAMWATCH is not alone in bringing the horological action to us, nor is it the first.
Normally, Singapore is the kind of place one associates with watch buying and that is borne out in Swiss watch export figures.

Singapore regularly places in the top 10 export markets, according to the good old Swiss Watchmaking Federation (CH), just like Hong Kong. Unlike that other centre of Asian horological fanaticism, Singapore does not have its own watch trade fair. The Hong Kong show is famous and even draws Swiss exhibitors. In part, this is because Hong Kong maintains both an industrial and artisanal base for traditional watchmaking. In addition, the city also plays host to various important auctions, just like Geneva and New York. Singapore, not so much, at least right now.

While IAMWATCH happened in October, this story really begins roughly 20 years ago. That was when a watch fair called Tempus: The Great Watchscapade shook up the collecting community here, literally bringing home the massive impact of the Ulysse Nardin Freak, which itself had only debuted in 2001. Tempus was also organised by The Hour Glass and was the first such event to be held in Singapore. Then, as now, the idea was the celebrate the culture of watchmaking.

In Search of Meaning

Tempus was also amongst the first international showcases of independent watchmaking outside of Europe and the USA. To give credit where credit is due, collectors in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan had found a taste for this fresh take on horology a little earlier but today, at IAMWATCH, with its “double-wristed” exhortation, local collectors have clearly embraced the ‘indies’ like no other. For the more casually watch-curious amongst you, to “double-wrist” in local community parlance means to wear two watches.

Reassuringly, the term “local” just means everyone based here so it encompasses the region’s best and brightest. Singapore really is a Mecca for fine watchmaking and it goes far beyond the export numbers, or number of key retailers or even the impressive depth and diversity of collectors. Basically, numbers alone cannot explain the love for watches so openly on show at IAMWATCH.

By the same token, numbers cannot account for the affection shown for the fair itself. This brings up an important question that makes up the heart of this story and though it was implied earlier, framing it clearly is useful. So, here it is: why is a watch fair so important anyway? This entire story – and parts of other stories in this issue and probably the next one too – are dedicated to discovering the answers.

Now, to be clear, we have had watch shows here in between this latest one and the groundbreaking Tempus of old. Every major retailer in Singapore had its own show at one point, with Sincere expanding the frontiers to KL, Malaysia for Conquest of Time in 2006.

Tempus returned for a second edition in Singapore that year too, but most of the action dried up in the aftermath of the Great Recession in the USA. JeweLuxe happened just before IAMWATCH this year, and this writer caught up with none other than the living legend Vianney Halter there. Watchmaker Vincent Calabrese is another mainstay of the JeweLuxe show, and many collectors, enthusiasts and journalists enjoy meeting him every year.

Bigger and Better

Under the UltraLuxe umbrella, JeweLuxe is a mainstay of the local watch and jewellery calendar, though it is mainly known for the latter. As some of you will know, UltraLuxe delivered the Singapore Watch Fair to us, and that took off as its own thing. While this event did not take place this year and appears to have morphed into something bigger and better, namely IAMWATCH, the important thing is that an exhibition of watches remains on the calendar. Also on a different level was Spring Sprang Sprung (SPRG), which is a showcase of small independent watchmakers and micro brands that happens concurrently with IAMWATCH. 

Now in its third year, SPRG gets bigger all the time, with this year’s event drawing 50% more participants than last year’s, according to the organisers. It certainly feels larger, given its new venue: the foyer of the Drama Centre at the National Library. Uniquely, SPRG is also a playground for local micro brands, with at least 10 exhibitors being local; this includes well-known players such as Azimuth and new ones like Bauche.

This is not to suggest that we will be looking at some sort of homegrown industrial base for watchmaking here. On the other hand, local brands might well be able to create watches that find broader appeal, much as Azimuth has. Consider the success of MB&F, whose founder Max Busser frequently points out that he is not a watchmaker but a creator and a facilitator.

It was no accident that SPRG and IAMWATCH ended up sharing the spotlight because Michael Tay, Managing Director of The Hour Glass, asked the organisers of SPRG if they would move their show to run alongside his own. As a result, banners advertising SPRG were hard to miss at the IAMWATCH venue, The Singapore Edition hotel.

This was a nice touch because this sort of collaborative spirit is necessary to promote the culture of watch appreciation, overall. It is also intriguing because SPRG is the brainchild of Yong Keong Lim and Sugiharto Kusumadi; Yong runs Big Time Singapore, distributor of Orient and Orient Star, amongst others, and his own micro-brand, Feynmann Timekeepers, while Kusumadi is the founder of local retailer Red Army Watches. Both are very familiar to collectors and the watch enthusiast community here, as is Tay. As it happens, Tay was also responsible for that very first Tempus so he has been an advocate of the culture of watchmaking for a long while. 

Cultural Resonance

It is precisely this culture that enthusiasts are hungry for – so much so that the watchmakers attending, especially the younger ones, are shocked to find themselves treated like rock stars. At IAMWATCH, the little areas dedicated to the individual exhibitors were mobbed by enthusiasts who could barely contain themselves.

We would not be surprised if you found it difficult to get some face time here in maybe just one circuit. Having the event spread out across several days made a great deal of sense – same for SPRG too. Ultimately, the watchmakers, brand representatives and personalities must have felt a different kind of energy from some of the visitors too – a hunger of a different sort.

Tay told the Straits Times that he sees this moment in history as being perfect for independent watchmakers – we have heard the same from other retailers in Singapore and beyond. Availability is a big issue, even when quite a number of brands are suffering from a variety of demand and inventory issues.

Consequently, the hunger we speak of at IAMWATCH is for fine watches, and most will have gone home hungry. Many of the independent watchmakers have long order lists and are still concentrating on making what they have promised. At the same time, people like Théo Auffret and Sylvain Pinaud have to continue to build bridges with the collector community, even as they might feel like they should be back at their benches to finish building watches. 

Although we use specific examples above, the same could be said for Raúl Pagès and Rexhep Rexhepi (Akrivia). It is certainly a fact for one of the OG indies, none other than F.P. Journe, whose watches are more highly sought-after than gold. While Tay sported his own Journe piece at IAMWATCH, plenty of other collectors are waiting for fortune to favour them.

Building Bridges

On a penultimate note, the entire community here wants to know if there will be more local consumer-centric watch fairs in the works. While JeweLuxe and SPRG seem set to continue, IAMWATCH is a big question mark, given that The Hour Glass does not want to simply repeat itself. That is one of the reasons Tempus did not become a staple. Another reason is the commercial aspect, or rather the lack of one.

Doing meet-and-greets with watchmakers who might one day achieve the status of a Kari or Francois-Paul is one thing but it is less than optimal when said watchmakers have no wares to speak of. There is plenty to talk about, as the various panel discussions at IAMWATCH and SPRG showed, but talking about watches only goes so far. As the community made abundantly clear, everyone wants watches, either of exactly the same sort or with wildly different expressions. There are different ways to address this matter.

For evidence in the case of a watch that can be worn as a badge of honour, the Patek Philippe Cubitus caused an unplanned stir at IAMWATCH itself <which you can read about in The Conversation this issue – Ed> and we take this is a sign that demand for the majors has not waned.

Indeed, as I can attest myself, the Cubitus is the most commercial new watch collection from a top Swiss brand in years <and we build on this point in our specific story on the Patek Philippe collection elsewhere – Ed>. The point is that even Patek Philippe feels the need to have something new clients can typically experience – a watch they can engage with.

For the indies, founders have to work hard to continue to build bridges with the community, even if no new watch might be coming soon. Few independent brands, and certainly no micro brands, have the wherewithal to create a line of watches that will be reliably available for all the collectors who might be interested. Instead, the founder (or founders) will usually be wearing the latest creation, even if that is just a prototype. Nothing terribly special there because this is exactly what the big brand bosses do, except the impact is greatly reduced when it is a corporate guy showing off the watch.

The End is the Beginning?

SPRG and IAMWATCH showed that people really appreciated meeting the men and women who made the watches, especially when those watches are rare. We are talking here of watches so rare as to make production model Richard Mille pieces seem commonplace, albeit without the attendant marketing power. No insult is meant here towards any famous names because you could substitute Richard Mille with any other name you like, from Vacheron Constantin to Lang & Heyne. Yes, Lang & Heyne makes maybe 200 watches a year, maximum, and its production makes Patek Philippe seem positively mass-market, with more than 70,000 watches made annually.

At events where independent watchmakers form the majority of producers, practically no one has drawers full of watches to show. Just getting a look at what Felix Baumgartner (Urwerk) was wearing would have already been a special moment for whichever lucky soul got that chance, to cite just one example yet again. And yes, again, substitute any of the close to 100 makers across JeweLuxe, SPRG and IAMWATCH you like here and it still works. When was the last time you saw such a gathering of watchmakers here, and when will be the next time? The team at WOW certainly hopes it will not take 20 years! 

This story was first seen as part of the WOW #76 Festive 2024 Issue

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