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Last month, in the birthplace of watchmaking, Geneva played host to the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), a prestigious show convention for the latest in luxury watches. The private event is by invitation only and consists of 18 exhibitions, 12,500 guests from around the world, and over a thousand journalists.

The event took place from January 16 to 20 and allowed the guests to view the new collections by big-name luxury watchmakers. To name a few, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Pierre Arpels, and Cartier all introduced new models at the exhibition.

SIHH 2012

Though only a twenty year old annual tradition, the convention’s philosophy on their website proudly states, “The complete quality of the products on show and a policy of selective distribution are the driving forces of Fine Watchmaking and the SIHH, as brilliantly illustrated by the Show’s progressive and controlled expansion.”

Beginning in 1992 with only five brands exhibiting their work (Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Piaget, Gérald Genta, Franck Müller), the SIHH mostly focused on forums and round table discussions about watch manufacturing and economy. Now, however, it has become much more. In a world where nothing is perfect, the SIHH has allowed for once a year the watch enthusiasts of the world to come together to observe something that is. Those invited to the show all have something in common in that they hold “an unerring belief in the beauty and perfection of the object.”

Encouraging the timeless appeal that watches create, a special additional exhibition was also created to honor vintage clocks dating from as early as the Renaissance to the early 1900s.

Reaching out to the general public (those of us not invited), the men’s interest website Askmen.com recently featured a few watch experts picking out their favorite’s from the show, such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver, the Jaeger-Lecoultre Deep Sea Vintage Chronograph, and the Montblanc Timewriter line.

Other journalists and reviewers for the event noted that as luxury watch products tend to take roughly three years to plan and produce, this year’s SIHH was really debuting the big ideas of 2009. Since the worldwide economy was strained at the time, the watches that resulted focused less on novelty and wow-factor, and instead emphasized practical advancements and what generally worked in the past.

The main Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie website’s homepage is already set to start counting down the days until next year’s exhibition (344 days).