Sandra‘s Closet

Switzerland turns 735 today. For a country this composed, that is a remarkable run, and the 1st of August still feels less like a parade and more like a quiet family celebration that happens to involve an entire nation.

I was not born here. I am German, and I came to Switzerland for what was meant to be a short chapter. The chapter turned into a life. Years later I received my Swiss passport, and I still count that among the proudest days I have had. A country you are given by birth is a fact. A country you choose, and that eventually chooses you back, is closer to a love story. Wahlheimat, we say in German. Chosen home. It makes today rather personal.

What I love most is how much this small country manages to hold. Water so clear you can count the stones under six metres of it. Mountains that look computer generated until you are standing in front of them.

In winter those same mountains become the best skiing on earth, from the first cable car up in Zermatt with the Matterhorn watching over your shoulder to a long, sunny lunch on a terrace in St. Moritz before the last run down.

Vineyards above Lake Geneva, palm trees in Ticino, glaciers in Valais, and all of it reachable by a train that arrives at the minute it promised. World class cities you can cross on foot, with a hiking trail and total silence thirty minutes away. Grand hotels holding a century of stories in the lobby, and lakeside bathhouses where people swim before work. Very few places offer both.

Then comes the part the rest of the world knows us for. Art Basel, the most important fair in the international art market since 1970, which this June brought 290 galleries from 43 countries into a single city.

Watches and Wonders in Geneva, the biggest watch fair in the world, with 66 maisons at Palexpo in April and Audemars Piguet finally back among them. The cheese, the chocolate, the wheels of Gruyère and the boxes of pralinés that make every Swiss suitcase heavier on the way out than on the way in.

And next Saturday, the 8th of August, Zurich becomes the world’s largest techno party when the Street Parade takes over the lake basin with close to a million people dancing along the water. Bankers by day, ravers by night. Nowhere else do discretion and hedonism share a postcode quite so happily.

Fashion has noticed all of it, usually with a perfectly straight face. Prada once sent out a pale yellow openwork knit that the internet immediately and correctly identified as a slice of Emmentaler, priced at just over 900 pounds.

Jeremy Scott mined the same seam for years at Moschino, with melting chocolate handbags that looked good enough to lick, a whole Moschino Farms season of cows and barnyard prints, and, in fall 2021, a wool jacket trimmed with real cowbells.

Burberry has put cow print on silk dresses and mini skirts, which any farmer in Appenzell could have confirmed was a classic several decades ago. Alpine kitsch, it turns out, is the one Swiss export the runway simply cannot leave alone.

A few things worth knowing about the date itself. It goes back to the Federal Charter of 1291, when Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden swore to stand by one another, legend says on the Rütli meadow above Lake Lucerne. The document only specifies early August, which is charmingly vague for a nation famous for precision. It was rediscovered in an archive in Schwyz in 1758 and can still be seen there. The first great celebration came in 1891 for the 600th anniversary, and it became annual from 1899. What surprises most people is how recent the holiday is.

Until 1993 the 1st of August was an ordinary working day in most cantons. That September, 86.3 percent of voters said yes to a nationwide public holiday, and the first official day off followed in 1994. Very Swiss, that. Nothing happens until everybody has voted on it.

Traditionally the day belongs to bonfires on the hills, lanterns carried through the streets by children, church bells at eight and an alphorn making everyone go quiet for a moment. This year the celebrations are more restrained in many places, which suits the occasion better than you might think. The Swiss have never needed spectacle to know exactly who they are.

Happy Birthday, Switzerland. Danke für alles.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / Rian Davidson / David Biedert Photography and @kazmva0
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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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To mark its 10th anniversary, Moritz Grossmann are launching their most ambitious project to date: the release of an interactive, online advent calendar of 24 unique watch pieces which are exclusively available at a global online auction with Christie’s. This is the first time ever that the auction house has offered such a large capsule collection of new and unique pieces.

About Moritz Grossmann
On November 11, 2008, Christine Hutter founded Grossmann Uhren using the distinguished name of the co-founder of the Glashütte watch industry and initiator of the German School of watchmaking in Glashütte, Moritz Grossmann. In doing so, she ensured that the legacy of the highly respected watch pioneer was revived after around 130 years. Since 2008, the company has been manufacturing watches to the highest standards in a classic yet contemporary design.

The common denominator of this collection is that every watch is unique, deriving from the most beautiful German craftsmanship.

The online auction runs until the 10th of December 2018 (Sale no. 16375).

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Moritz Grossmann

This afternoon, I have arrived in Vienna. Omega invited me to their Ladymatic event and the La Nuit Enchantée (An Enchanting Night) which will take place tonight. Known for its captivating look, the iconic Ladymatic has been a prestigious example of the brand’s style and invention since its launch in 2010. During the weekend, the newest Ladymatic timepieces will be shown as well as the campaign featuring long-time ambassador Nicole Kidman who will be also present at the event tonight. Stay tuned as the exclusive video will be coming up here soon.

I am staying at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton and attached some photos of my spacious room. Upon my arrival, I had to have an Austrian apple strudel, so yummy!

Follow me on Instagram or Twitter (@sandrascloset) for live updates.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht