Sandra‘s Closet

A Return to Time: Notes from Watches and Wonders Geneva

There are few places where time feels as tangible as at Watches and Wonders Geneva. For one day, everything revolves around it, interpreted through craftsmanship, design, and an almost obsessive attention to detail.

This year, the fair revealed more than technical innovation. It signaled a shift in mood, subtle, but unmistakable.

Patek Philippe New Models 2026

BVLGARI celebrates old-school glamour with its newest Serpenti watches.

There is a clear return to old-school glamour and with it, a strong retro influence. Not nostalgia in its simplest form, but a deliberate reinterpretation of the past. Vintage codes are everywhere: softened silhouettes, intricate bracelets, and, most notably, the reappearance of the secret watch.

These pieces conceal their dials beneath decorative covers, blurring the line between jewelry and timekeeping. They are intimate, almost private objects, designed to be discovered rather than displayed. It is a language that echoes the elegance of earlier decades, yet feels entirely contemporary in its execution.

At the same time, craftsmanship is moving back to the center of the conversation. Not just as a technical necessity, but as a form of artistic expression. The level of detail, the patience, and the human touch behind these pieces feels more important than ever.

One example that stayed with me came from CHANEL. A chess set, already sold and therefore no longer on display in its final form, was presented through prototypes. Each figure was meticulously crafted, with the Gabrielle Chanel silhouette wearing a tweed jacket, entirely set with diamonds, that emphasized the effect of the material. It was less an object and more a demonstration of what true craftsmanship can achieve: intricate, precise, and deeply intentional.

Audemars Piguet Etablisseurs Galets

At the same time, a structural shift within the industry is becoming increasingly visible. The market is stretching apart.

Van Cleef & Arpels is expanding its Jour Nuit collection with a new timepiece in honor of the Moon. Within the Midnight case, the watch features two overlapping complications: the first one animates the Jour/Nuit display, while the second one illustrates the actual Moon phase. 

BVLGARI

On one end, brands are leaning heavily into haute horlogerie, producing exceptional, highly complicated, and often extremely limited pieces. These watches are not simply products; they are statements of craftsmanship, created for collectors who value rarity as much as technical mastery. Prices reflect this shift, reaching levels that position these timepieces firmly within the realm of art and investment.

Celebrating 100 years of the Rolex Oyster with this beautiful and affordable Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 «Jubilee Edition».

On the other end, the more accessible segment remains present, but quieter, almost overshadowed by the spectacle of high-end innovation. The middle ground is thinning, and the contrast between the two extremes is becoming more pronounced.

A Testament to Métiers d’Art: Van Cleef & Arpels, with its latest Perlée Extraordinaire Fruits Enchantés collection, is capturing the ruby-red intensity of perfectly ripened raspberries.

Yet within this high-end focus, creativity is flourishing. Freed from the need to appeal to a broad audience, brands are allowing themselves to be more expressive, more daring, and more niche. Watchmaking, in this sense, is becoming increasingly cultural. These are no longer just instruments or even luxury goods, they are narratives, identities, and statements.

Collectors today are not simply buying watches; they are engaging with meaning.

Walking through the fair, it quickly becomes clear that the experience goes far beyond the watches themselves. Some booths are consistently extraordinary, fully immersive environments that tell their own story. Officine Panerai, known for its diving heritage, brought that world to life with a stand that felt like stepping into the depths.

Van Cleef & Arpels created something entirely different, a poetic garden, complete with a swing, where time seemed to slow down.

And Audemars Piguet offered a more introspective atmosphere, with a library-like setting that invited you to pause, reflect, and look closer.

I leaned into the spirit of the fair with a Moschino look, complete with a watch-shaped bag and a hat featuring a clock detail. A subtle nod to the theme of time, and one that, quite unexpectedly, drew a lot of attention throughout the day. I was frequently stopped, photographed, and even interviewed, an unusual but fitting part of the experience.

Yves Piaget with me (click here for a previous post from 2012).

Amidst all of this, it is often the quieter, more personal moments that stay the longest. Seeing Yves Piaget again was one of them. Having been for many years an ambassador for Piaget, it made the encounter feel all the more meaningful.

Relaunch of the Piaget cocktail ring collection, for which I hosted an private garden party in my house in 2013.

There was something genuinely special in being recognized, in that brief moment of familiarity within such a fast-moving environment. A small exchange, a shared memory, and somehow, it stays. I still have the Piaget rose.

Ulysse Nardin

And perhaps that is what defines the fair as much as the watches themselves. It is not just an industry event, it is a cultural moment, where craftsmanship meets storytelling, and where timepieces become part of a larger narrative.

I predict a huge success for the BVLGARI Octo Finissimo Watch in satin-polished 18 kt yellow gold case.

What remains after a full day is not simply a memory of products, but a clear impression:

The future of watchmaking may well lie in its past.

In craftsmanship over scale.
In rarity over ubiquity.
In intimacy over display.

And in the enduring desire to make time feel, once again, timeless.

Trying on Cartier‘s latest Bagnoire collection, that I am completely obsessed about.

Some of the most remarkable pieces deserve a closer look, and I’ll be returning to a few of them in more detail over the coming weeks.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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Starting from today, NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER will be the privileged multi-brand online retailers of Watches & Wonders, a global concept that celebrates watchmaking excellence throughout the world. Hosting digital and offline events, this concept will bring some of the industry’s most revered luxury watch brands to the online shopping destination’s extensive customer base, starting from today. Fourteen watchmaking Maisons will feature as part of this initiative, together for the first time.

A great example for a super informative masterclass for Net-à-Porter’s EIP clients last June.

Over the course of the campaign, NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER customers will be able to enjoy a calendar of activity, including exclusive EIP (Extremely Important Person) virtual events and small-scale appointment-based activity, virtual one-to-one appointments and interactive Instagram Live conversations hosted by NET-A-PORTER and PORTER’s Editor in Chief, Sarah Bailey, and MR PORTER’s Senior Watch Editor, Chris Hall.

In anticipation of the celebrated campaign, and in response to extensive customer research across both retailers, NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER will also introduce a number of new website enhancements to the luxury watch shopping experience, including an improved size guide and the addition of trend-driven, occasion-based and material filters. Further developments will follow in the near future.

One of my favorite watches that I got at Net-à-Porter: Panthère de Cartier Manchette 22mm 18-karat rose gold and diamond watch by Cartier

The arrival of Watches & Wonders on NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER marks a significant moment for the industry, bringing together the leading watch and jewellery players, and establishes the luxury retailers as the ultimate global shopping destinations for fine watches. Following on from the Watches & Wonders digital platform that occurred on NET-A-PORTER’s Tmall flagship store in April, this new initiative marks the beginning of a year-long programme and showcases a unique tri-fold industry approach to the fast-evolving luxury watch landscape.

With Alison Loehnis at a Net-à-Porter event

«By teaming up with the world’s premier watch showcase, we want to provide an international platform for the most exceptional timepieces, supporting an environment where their stories – and those of their iconic makers – can come alive and be accessed by watch lovers across the globe.»
– Alison Loehnis, President, NET-A-PORTER & MR PORTER

NET-A-PORTER will introduce the latest creations from Cartier, Hermès, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger LeCoultre, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin.

Bovet’s limited-edition Dimier Recital 27 Green that will launch at Mr Porter.

MR PORTER will host a curated offering of the most recent creations from across 13 prestigious watch Maisons including Cartier, HYT and Panerai, and will introduce two new brands: Ulysse Nardin and Bovet. Ulysse Nardin will launch with eight timepieces, including the Blast Rose Gold; Bovet will launch with four timepieces, including the limited-edition Dimier Recital 27 Green.

Another beauty in my closet shopped at Net-à-Porter: Royal Oak 37mm 18-karat frosted rose gold watch by Audemars Piguet

Personally speaking, I love being an EIP at Net-à-Porter. The personal shopping department is divine and the events I have been invited to were always superb. I bought two watches for myself and I am super happy with the service provided by my favorite online retailer.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Net-à-Porter, © Mr Porter © David Biedert Photography, © Sandra Bauknecht
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«I AM SURE THAT MERMAIDS DO EXIST.» – MILO MANARA

Unveiled for the first time at the SIHH in Geneva, this series of ten enchanting erotic watches truly deserve their own post. Ulysse Nardin and celebrated Italian erotic comic book artist Milo Manara have teamed up to take you on a voyage into the depths of a mythical sea of desire where Ulyssa, a mermaid, and Nadia, a woman, meet, discover and love each other in a timeless, nautical reverie.

Based on Manara’s illustrations of underwater encounters between a hauntingly beautiful woman and a mythical mermaid, the watches are a palindrome, each one a unique, timeless moment that exists independently from the others.

Using micro painting over 150 years of watchmaking knowledge and experience, Ulysse Nardin has transferred Manara’s story onto ten watch faces in a series where mermaids and sharks bask freely in clear waters, in an underwater world freed from the constraints of time.

«The clock lends itself particularly precisely to this theme because in eroticism there is eternity», Milo Manara precised.

A mermaid and a human meet and engage tenderly under the watchful eye of a distant shark. Like the sirens in Homer’s classic tale of Ulysses, Manara’s mermaid enchants the young woman, taking her into a sensual embrace. Each scene is a moment where time disappears, and love propels them as they rock gently in the ocean waves.

«I had to think of a theme that brings all these ten images together and yet leaves each one its autonomy, so that it works on its own without the need for the others», Manara explained from his studio in Valpolicella, Italy. «This is not a linear story but there is a common thread based on two characters; one is a timeless girl and the other, a mermaid».

Born in northern Italy, Manara has been a graphic illustrator for over fifty years. He was classically trained as a painter, studying the works of Rubens, Caravaggio and de Chirico before defining his own style. For this series of watches, Manara chose a universal theme – erotic love – and created characters that exist in their own time frame.

«It is clear that these women represent an ideal. If we look at Greek classicism and the Renaissance, one can see that the morphology of the physical model has changed over the centuries. I see my work as a continuous reinterpretation of the ideal model.»

Manara has created just ten of these illustrations, a series that Ulysse Nardin has reproduced using micro painting. High in the Swiss mountains, artisans at the Ulysse Nardin Headquarters in Le Locle have been working during approximately 50 hours around the clock to miniaturize each of Manara’s drawings on the dials, a surface which is roughly ten times smaller than the original water color paintings. The art of miniature painting shows that perfection is indeed in the details.

There is an explosion of colours in the sensual details. From the deep blue of the sea to the coral reef barrier, to the little waves details on the surface of the water and the color of the mermaid’s lips and jewels, it has all been painted by hand using a brush the width of a single eyelash. Patience is key. To enhance Manara’s erotic scenes, a lacquer has been applied as a topcoat on the acrylic painting, reflecting the light and nobility of Manara’s art work.

Made of polished stainless steel, these Milo Manara special editions will also be manufactured in 5N rose gold. Ten pieces per drawing will be produced in stainless steel and ten pieces in rose gold, making the series limited to a mere 200 pieces in total.

Powered by the UN-320 self-winding manufacture movement and beating at the rhythm of silicium technology – which Ulysse Nardin has mastered for decades – only the hours and minutes are displayed in order to leave a maximum amount of space on the watch faces for the drawings. The hands are discreet, leaving the drawings to star on the face of each watch. These Classico Manara in 40 mm will be set on dark blue alligator straps to align with the color tonality dictated by Manara. As a special gift from Ulysse Nardin, each watch purchase will be accompanied by an original numbered Milo Manara print, signed by the artist himself.

Stainless Steel: $ 26.900
Rose Gold: $ 34.400

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Ulysse Nardin

The colour of kings, blue, was unquestionably one of the stars of the SIHH 2018 (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie), a unisex shade for both, men and women, that recounts watchmaking’s noble origins. Once the exception to the rule, blue has become one of watchmakers’ go-to colours. Indigo or azure, sky or cerulean, teal or navy, the year’s collections have revealed a vast palette of fashionably chic shades. Dials as blue as the ocean’s deep or as luminous as the sky, diamonds embellishing watches to ignite desire, colourful straps that bring originality to the wrist.

Whether matched with the soft sheen of pink gold, the warmth of yellow gold, or contrasting with the icy purity of steel, blue has the faculty to adapt to every style and material.
Please see for yourself:

MEN’s WATCHES

Clockwise from top left:
Kalpagraphe Chronomètre by Parmigiani Fleurier
Marine Tourbillon Blue Grand Feu by Ulysses Nardin
Clifton by Baume & Mercier
Slim d’Hermès Quantième Perpétuel by Hermès

Excalibur Aventador S by Roger Dubuis
Roger Dubuis dares to be rare once again and goes where others fear to tread – by launching colourful iterations of its iconic Excalibur line in conjunction with partners Perfect Fit Pirelli and Raging Mechanics Lamborghini Squadra Corse at SIHH 2018.

Offering yet another stunning example of highly complicated watchmaking inspired by the automotive world, the Roger Dubuis x Lamborghini Squadra Corse partnership roars to life in 2018 with the 45 mm Excalibur Aventador S Blue vying for pole position by being crafted from the same C-SMC carbon as that used on the actual Lamborghini cars.
Limited to 88 pieces.

Freak Vision by Ulysee Nardin

Introducing the first automatic watch in the Freak Collection, the Freak Vision. Among the game-changers: a super-light silicium balance wheel with nickel mass elements and stabilizing micro-blades and a new case design made even thinner by a box-domed crystal. Time is still indicated in the «Freak» manner that sets the collection apart: by the baguette movement itself, a  50 hours «flying carrousel» rotating around its own axis.

Yet the design components are completely different. The new 3D carved upper bridge is inspired by a boat’s hull. Finally, the entire 45mm platinum case itself is new—horns, bezel, the rubber on the side—making for a look that is much more open and generous.

WOMEN’s WATCHES

Clockwise from top left:
Millenary Hand-Wound Ladies Watch by Audemars Piguet (with interchangeable straps)
Laureato Royalty, 34mm by Girard-Perregaux
Sweet Alhambra  Watch by Van Clef & Arpels
Possession Watch, 29mm by Piaget

Clockwise from top left:
Luminor Due 3 Days, 42mm & Luminor Due 3 Days Automatic, 38mm, both by Panerai
Bohème Automatic Date, 34mm by Montblanc
Slim d’Hermès Mythiques Phoenix Coloriages, 39mm by Hermès
Rendez-Vous Night & Day Medium by Jaeger-LeCoultre

One is more beautiful than the other… the decision is all yours.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
Single Photos of Roger Dubuis, Ulysee Nardin: Courtesy of the Brands