Lvmh Watch Week has come to an end, with representatives of the Bulgari, Hublot and Zenith brands, journalists and retailers. The first in Switzerland, the others in all parts of the world, connected via Zoom. The technical part was excellent, the lights, the sound: it was almost as if we were in the same room as the speakers. Except we weren't there. So, I couldn't tell you whether Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami was too big, too heavy, too black or just perfect as it appeared on my computer screen.
Commenting on watches without having seen and touched them in real life is a bit like judging a partner after having webcam sex with them. But that's how it works in Covid time. What I can tell you is that Zenith has put all its eggs in the new Chronomaster Sport, equipped with the El Primero 3600 calibre, with a central tenths-of-a-second display (as in the 2019 Striking Tenth) and slightly modified to increase its autonomy to 60 hours, but already criticised for its 'too much Rolex' bracelet.
Bulgari has reinforced the sporty vocation of the Octo Finissimo S with a very 'Italian' steel chronograph: an elegant sportsman in the most classic sense. On this watch, which I touched with my own hands in the Milan boutique, I can add that it has a completely different physicality to the titanium Octo Finissimo chronograph. Slightly less slim, wider and definitely heavier, it gives the idea of a 'tool watch' rather than a design piece.
In conclusion, the virtual event worked and seems to have satisfied the organisers, thanks to its low costs. But the feeling it left was one of great fatigue for those who hosted the event - and had to juggle different time zones - and a certain boredom for those who participated via connection, distracted by their surroundings and deprived of the natural sharing of space and time. Meanwhile, the next event will still be online, with Watches & Wonders. Considerably larger than LVMH Watch Week, almost 40 exhibitors, it will be the real test case for the usability of virtual salons.
