Crypto News: Huge watch news

Hello! I'm Chris Rovzar, editor of Bloomberg Pursuits and our merry squad's expert on watches. I'm writing this newsletter from my Delta flight home from the Watches and Wonders trade show in Geneva, because I wanted to get you the PIPING HOT GOSSIP from the fair as soon as possible.

First things first: What's Watches and Wonders? Great question—you've proved to me that you're a normal human being.

W&W is an annual fair where 49 of the world's top luxury watchmakers gather in a giant expo hall and showcase their new wares in fancy, building-size booths. The hall is filled with retailers who are picking the pieces they want to sell for the coming year, and journalists who are seeing what's fresh and trendy.

While the official fair is going on, there are also satellite events throughout Geneva in hotel suites and restaurants, where smaller brands try to catch up with the same journalists, retailers and clients.

Related: Want more exclusive horology news from Bloomberg? Sign up for our watch club and newsletter here.

The Hublot Big Bang Integrated Tourbillon Full Blue Sapphire watch, or, what my wrist looks like wearing a half a million dollars. Photographer: Chris Rovzar/Bloomberg

In total I visited with around 35 brands and tried on over 100 watches—some as cheap as $400 (a Baltic time-only watch) and some as pricey as $527,000 (a hulking Hublot made entirely with blue sapphire). I saw a few very strong trends and a lot of timepieces I liked. And I met with CEOs, founders and watchmakers to talk about the state of the business.

The most thrilling moment came when I got the chance to interview Patek Philippe president (and owner) Thierry Stern alongside my Geneva-based colleague, Andy Hoffman, who covers the Swiss watchmaking industry. Stern is a very charming, sweet man, and he told us great stories about how he learned to create watches and how he's trying to teach his sons.

He also exclusively shared with us the news that Patek Philippe is already long underway with work on a new watch! This would be the first new timepiece from the brand in more than 20 years, and will be key to Stern's plans for moving Patek past the overheated Nautilus—which he discontinued in 2021.

"The design is done, and the prototype is ready," he told us. "And really, I like it." You've gotta go read the whole interview with Thierry Stern.

Patek Philippe's 24-Hour Travel Time Calatrava watch is new this year, and I loved it. Photographer: Chris Rovzar/Bloomberg

We're going to run Stern's Q&A in full next week in a special "Watch Edition" of the Pursuits section of Bloomberg Businessweek, so make sure to check it out. Stern also said he thinks we've passed the peak of the overheated watch market, and things are cooling down to a more normal level where they'll stay for a while.

As for timepiece trends, Rolex debuted their second-ever titanium watch, which was big news for them. Many other brands have been making watches out of titanium for years, because the material is so light and strong—hence, making it great for the "sports" that people are supposedly using all these big metal watches for. But there were definitely a lot of other new and expanded titanium lines that I saw around the booths. You can read our story on titanium watches here.

The other big trend I noticed this week was that watches are shrinking. Back in New York last month, Watchbox CEO Justin Reis told me that I should expect this. In the secondary market, where he does a brisk nine-figure business, he's been seeing collectors chase after watches that are increasingly on the smaller side.

And he was right: at the fair, a lot of brands showcased products they were calling "medium-sized" or small. I saw 37mm or 39mm pieces from Vacheron Constantin, TAG Heuer and Tudor. Bell & Ross dropped its standard case size from 42mm to 41mm. Panerai wanted to focus on its Quaranta watches, which are 40mm instead of its standard bigger beefcakes.

The Tudor Black Bay 54 in 37mm is so cute. Photographer: Chris Rovzar/Bloomberg

I loved the 37mm Tudor Black Bay 54 the best, because I'm used to seeing steel sports watches looking so huge and heavy on people's wrists. (By comparison, the Rolex Submariner is 41mm in diameter.) The Tudor has a domed crystal and warm little golden accents, so it looks properly historic—and it just wears so well.

OK, okay, that's enough about the fair! (Although feel free to peep my Instagram.) Here are some other stories you shouldn't miss:

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Champagne Is Outperforming Gold and the S&P 500. Here's What to Buy

Fine fizz is even beating Burgundy. Here are eight expensive bottles of bubbly worth splurging on.

Can You use ChatGPT to Plan Travel? It's Hilarious and Can Actually Work

We put the AI chatbot to the test using three very different scenarios, and its performance varied widely. Still, its successes showed surprising promise.

Seven Money-Saving Tips to Beat Travel Inflation This Summer and Beyond

High costs are already putting a damper on summer travel plans. These money-saving strategies can help.

My fellow watch journalist Roberta Naas had a great story in the Times last week about how Swiss maisons aren't only facing supply chain issues—they're also struggling to find trained watchmakers to put the pieces together. I visited the MB&F workshop while I was in Geneva and marveled while talking to some of the watchmakers there. I know I could never do it; you have to be so patient, so careful, and so still! All day long!

McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty Photographer: Sergio Fernandez

Pursuits cars columnist Hannah Elliott has been working since the fall on this truly excellent profile of McKeel Hagerty, and his rapidly-growing insurance/car show/auction house business. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. It's a great peek into an eccentric, old-school world that not many people understand—and which Hagerty is trying to revolutionize.

My college pal Ari Shapiro has a new book out, called The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening, and I've just cracked it open. Ari's the host of NPR's "All Things Considered," and his book uses a series of poignant and funny essays to remind people how important it is to listen to one another and ask questions.

I often feel like it's a dying art, and because of that, doing journalism the right way is more important than ever. Otherwise we'll stop hearing one another and grow ever more divided. Ari's the perfect person to make this point. Also: read Ari Shapiro's travel tips here.

Mostly about watches. I hope I can help. Keep the curiosity coming via our dedicated AskPursuits@bloomberg.net question line or shoot us a DM on Instagram.

What are the best fairly-priced watches for people under 30?

There are so many, actually. I always recommend Nomos watches because they combine serious watchmaking with brilliant aesthetics and a great price point. If you want a classic Swiss watch, look at Frederique Constant, which offers classic style and complications very inexpensively. (I have one of each of these.)

I have the cute little Nomos in the middle! Source: Nomos

Don't underestimate Shinolas, either. They're beautiful and American-made. Tudor watches are built with the same stuff as Rolexes, but at about half the price.

Also check out: Victorinox, Baltic, Hamilton, Citizen, Rado or even Timex. An old friend of mine just showed me his Timex GMT and said that it gets him more compliments than any other watch he owns. Not every watch needs to be an investment—it can just be something cool that makes you happy!

Am I better to put my money into Rolex steel sports watches or the bank?

As my colleagues have been saying this past month (in spite of the whole bank run thing), there's a dash for cash and lots of investors are keeping it in money market accounts during all this turmoil. So the bank's not a bad plan.

But this question is a little tricky. If you could go out today and buy a coveted new Rolex at retail price, yes, you could immediately sell it for more—in some cases, a lot more. But most people CAN'T go into a store and buy a new Rolex.

So this leaves the secondary market as a place to buy this asset, and as Mr. Stern said, that area is overinflated and really softening. Don't purchase an overpriced watch and sit on it for future returns. Buy one if you want to wear it.

Now a platinum Rolex, on the other hand... Source: Rolex

Which do you prefer as an investment, a Rolex or a Patek?

Multiple people asked this. It's a tough one because they are both amazing brands and both have such different strategies and collections.

Patek makes super-classic watches that stand the test of time, and has a very broad range of beautiful (and sometimes very complicated) pieces. Rolex does a small number of things incredibly well, and iterates very slowly over time—which means that collectors obsess over tiny evolutions in dial designs or case shapes. That also makes for a hot secondary market

Because there are so many more Rolexes made every year (about a million compared to 70,000 from Patek), and because I know their market is so manipulated by dealers and speculators, I'm going to say Patek.

To be clear, I have neither and can afford neither.

What do you think about the new IWC Ingenieur?

I didn't love it. It's too plain for me—it doesn't feel innovative or memorable. But there's a version with a teal dial that really pops, and I would love to own.

Photograph by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Don't sleep on my review of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical catastrophe, Bad Cinderella, which just arrived on Broadway. Run, don't walk, away from this show. If you leave a shoe behind, just keep going!

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