This is a very special moment for all of us and therefore a special PRIMETIME-ISH content today.

We’ve been talking about the impact of this Covid-19 situation since January, but it’s only now that we are all seriously and concretely affected by this crisis, something most Asian countries have been facing since almost two months, but for some naive reasons in the western world we thought it wouldn’t really hurt us that much, some totally minimising the gravity and the consequences of what was an unfortunate and predictable evolution.

In today’s PRIMETIME, we naturally come back on the big news of the recent days with the cancellation of the two big watch shows; Watches & Wonders (ex-SIHH) and Baselworld. The situation reached a point where these decisions were simply inevitable but what impact will have on the industry, not only the brand side but also on the supplier side. This remains to be seen, but we know for sure that it will leave some serious damage especially for those who were already struggling, probably accelerating the fate of a few unfortunately.

The current economic climate for watchmaking is already quite complicated but the recent coronavirus outbreak will naturally have severe consequences as the industry has become so dependent on Chinese consumers in the last few years. Find out more about our opinion on the matter.

This 1st PRIMETIME - Watchmaking in the News of the year is a dense one with not only the latest newsworthy stories regarding the watchmaking industry, but we will also come back on some of the main highlights, the most significant new watches, the tops and flops, the main trends and business news of 2019, well a fun recap moment and what can be learned from it. 

Welcome on this new edition PRIMETIME and we have a rather dense edition to share with you; plenty of new products, plenty of business and gossipy things, a serious update on the SIHH/Baselworld saga and a lot to expect in the coming days.

In this edition of PRIMETIME, we really want to thank our great friends that came to Geneva for our 100k celebration party; it was totally marvellous to share this special moment with all of you there, as well as with some legendary friends from our industry, including very close friend Philippe Dufour.

In this fresh edition of PRIMETIME, we come back on the main noteworthy product launched witnessed these past few weeks (Omega, MB&F and L'Epée, Armin Strom, Panerai, Oris...), but also talk about some business-related matters, such as the product shortage seen with some steel watches, the GPHG, Only Watch and more.

Discover the main new watches presented in June and of course come we come back on the very recent announcement of the watches participating in the biannual charity auction of Only Watch, including a steel version of the Grand Master Chime by Patek Philippe and a spectacular F.P. Journe Astronomical minute repeater.