SIHH 2011: The booths at the show

Year after year, the Salon International de Haut Horologie (SIHH) showcases the best of watches in the industry in the huge, invitation only show in Geneva. This is my 10th year attending SIHH. And with each year, the booths become more and more amazing.

As the Founder of the Lange Owner's Group, I naturally use the Lange booth as my base, as I know almost all the staff and management onsite. This year, a huge, and I mean really huge, measuring probably 3m in diameter facimile of the Richard Lange Pour le Merite Tourbillon, with working time display adorns the wall facing the main entrance. The reception is at the right.



Behind the wall is a watchmaking workstation where Ralph Knoll exhibits the wonders of the Pour le Merite, and on the reverse of the wall is a facimille of the reverse of the watch, showing the movement.



Further in left and right are the sales rooms, and auditorium. As well as a nice lounge area, serving drinks, pretzels and Radeberger beer.



Walking around, my favourite lobby is the one presented by Piaget



Beautiful models, amazing jewellery, and a very cool blue hue adorns the lobby. Mesmerising and beautiful.

The VC booth is also quite interesting, with snipets...reminiscent of an old time travel agent's office.



Roger Dubuis was dressed like a casino, complete with a roulette table below the magnificent chandelier.



IWC was transported to the town of Portofino, Italy, highlighting that their offering this year was the new refreshed Portofino line, complete with beautiful waitresses in their huge swinging skirts



The Dunhill booth was like a page out of the 1920s...a scene reminding me of the genteel making either travel arrangements or discussing details with their accountant.



The keen eyed might spot my friend James Dowling on the sofa...a bit blurred as he moved during the photograph.

And finally, but certainly not least, the business like Jaeger LeCoultre lobby, showing a display of perhaps a hundred watches.

Kari Voutilainen Masterpiece Chronograph

Kari Voutilainen is one of the rising...perhaps already bright and shining...stars in independent horology. Meticulous, deliberate, precise in his action and choice of words. His works are marvelled the world over. One example of his clear thinking is the "re-invention" of the minute repeater striking mechanism. Instead of striking the hours, quarters and minutes after the quarters, he made a system which strikes the hours, number of ten minutes after the hour and the minutes...like we actually read the time. He calls this the decimal repeater.



But the focus of this article is on the chronograph. Recently, in the little village of Motiers, he converted his house, into a home cum workshop.


When I visited in early January, the fresh snow had just fallen, and the view of the living room from the yard is beautiful...still with Christmas decorations.

A separate stairwell leads to the basement and third and fourth floors which house the workshops. While the private residence occupies the ground and second floors. He has indeed geared up with much equipment and is able to manufacture almost the entire watch in-house. For example, the beautiful dials which are featured in his watches are hand cut on the rose engine in the basement.

The Voutilainen Masterpiece Chronograph is a beauty:



The dial is clean, but yet features delicate engine turned guilloche patterns. As this is a chronograph, the pride of place on the dial is given to the seconds counter for the chronograph, while the time is indicated on the subdial at 6 o'clock.

The movement is equally fascinating, the surface of the bridges are finished in a frosted 18k gold plating. And the hand anglaged sides glistened as they are polished to a shine contrasting with the frosted plate tops.



A closer look at the chronograph wheel and its bridge, showing the contrast on the polished anglage against the frosted top:



Another look at the beautifully set and polished column wheel, which commands all the chronograph functions with precision:



Another side view of the movement, showing the 3D watchscape: