As a practical object, the watch merits special status. Its utilitarian role has always been of great importance in our society, and master watchmakers have never ceased to inspire and initiate progress. Until very recently, the watches they created for land, air and sea were synonymous with innovation, as the rise of watchmaking coincided with developments in science, industry and trade. Today’s Haute Horlogerie professionals have risen to the modern-day challenge while perpetuating the ancestral union of expertise and art. Fusions of technical innovation and artistic creation, technical and jewellery watches alike reflect the tastes, culture, personality and status of those who wear them.
Each year since 1995, the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva has hosted a thematic exhibition through which visitors can discover the centuries-old origins that nurture the art of watchmaking today. Staged by Dominique Fléchon, expert in Haute Horlogerie and Director of the Research and Study Centre at the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, five of these exhibitions, from 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively, are presented here:
Fine Watchmaking celebrates Sport
Fine Watchmaking: a Tribute to Women
Fine Watches for Land, Air and Sea