SIHH Changes Its Name, Opens Up to the Public

Geneva—The Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) announced Wednesday that it is changing the name of SIHH and opening up the show to the public, another sign of the times in the changing world of trade shows.

Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, or SIHH, will now be called Watches & Wonders Geneva and will start a day earlier, April 25.

It will have two distinct components, Watches & Wonders—The Salon, and Watches & Wonders—In the City.

The Salon refers to what formerly known as SIHH at Geneva’s Palexpo Convention Center.

Once trade-only, the show will be open to the public every day. The cost to get in is 300 Swiss francs, which includes full access to the show and hospitality.

FHH is also adding a component to The Salon it is calling “Live,” which will be a venue for product launches and exclusive announcements, and will host keynote speakers.

Done in association with the city and canton of Geneva, In the City is new for 2020 and will incorporate the city of Geneva, the global center of watchmaking, into the show.

Exhibitions, walking tours, visits to watch manufacturers, museum open houses and more will be part of the program.

In the City will engage “all types of visitors—not just professionals,” FHH said, with the foundation hoping to pique younger consumers’ interest in watchmaking in particular.

FHH said the rebranding and expansion of the show represent the biggest changes in SIHH’s 30-year history (the first SIHH show took place in 1991).

The foundation previously produced Watches & Wonders shows in Miami and Hong Kong, but said the Geneva event takes the concept to a new level with the addition of In the City, which has never been done before.

“Watches & Wonders Geneva will be the flagship and the first example of this new concept, and there will be more to come,” an FHH source said.

Watches & Wonders Geneva is scheduled for April 25-29, 2020 in Switzerland.

For the last decade, the show formerly known as SIHH was held in January, but FHH and the organizers of rival show Baselworld announced in December 2018 that they would sync their dates in 2020, appeasing watch professionals, buyers and press who were not happy about having to travel to Switzerland twice.

SIHH moved back to April and Baselworld, which also is in the midst of making changes to its format, moved