New Jewelry Designers at Couture and JCK Luxury

A petrified wood bracelet by designer Susan Oster of Feral Jewelry. Photo by Gretchen Friedrich

By Gretchen Friedrich, JNN Social Media Manager

My purpose for JCK and Couture 2017 was to seek out new designers and procure their stories. Breaking into the jewelry industry is challenging, as most established businesses consist of multiple generations and family members. New artisans often don’t have the family support and vendor relationships to aid in their success. They also tend to have a great deal of passion for their craft. 

The two women featured in this post are both newcomers to the jewelry industry, but they also have a common thread, their design background. Marcia Budet and Susan Oster entered the world of jewelry through a creative transfer of sorts. Budet has a formal education in architecture and Oster was in interior design for 16 years prior to her shift to jewelry design. 

A pair of earrings by Marcia Budet. Photo by Gretchen Friedrich

Marcia Budet: Elegantly Bold

Marcia Budet is a former JCK Rising Star award winner, and this year she debuted at Couture. Her “Elegantly Bold” style is evolving, with more challenging stone shapes and designs that reflect her architectural training. 

In my interview with her, she explains the features of her new pieces, created specifically for Couture. 

Susan Oster: Feral Jewelry

Susan Oster revealed her Feral Jewelry collection in the design section of the JCK Luxury show. This was her first jewelry industry show. Oster said she was a successful interior designer but wanted to explore a different creative pursuit. 

Aptly named, Feral Jewelry uses primal elements and recycled raw materials in each piece, including a 10,000 year-old piece of petrified wood as the centerpiece of a custom bracelet. 

Oster discusses her transition into jewelry in my interview with her at the show.

What’s Next?

Both Budet and Oster answered the “what’s next?” question with a laugh. But, these designers are never lacking for inspiration, and a passion for the creation process. 

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Tradeshow Networking

Baselworld 2014 Photo credit: Courtesy of Baselworld

By Lisa Nikfarjam of Lisa Nik, Inc.

Every year it can seem like we are going around in a circle from one event to the next, one store to the next, and one tradeshow to the next. I've heard many retailers and manufacturers ask, “Are we doing too many tradeshows?” and “Maybe we should sit this one out?”

Having established a company during the past five years, I realize that every time I attend a tradeshow or visit a store, or made the effort to attend an event, something significant happens. Companies that have existed much longer may forget this and newer companies may feel hesitant or not even know about the networking opportunities at trade shows. 

We exhibit at the Centurion Jewelry show in Phoenix and at The Couture Show annually. In addition, I attend Baselworld. Walking around this fair, I am always surprised to experience the things that can happen while standing in line for cappuccino, waiting for someone at a hotel lobby and even on the airplane or train from Zurich. There is a special energy in Basel, maybe because the town is laid out in a way that makes things more intimate, making it much easier to bump into fellow jewelers. Since most people are not shy about eavesdropping, you can literally be having a conversation on the tram on the way to the fair and end up with three new friends and business contacts by the time you get there.

I would compare networking in Basel to the feeling that you may have had when doing an abroad program in college. I find that generally, the North Americans congregate together and are pretty easy to find. After walking the colored stone sections in Basel each day, hunting for new materials and colored gemstones, the end of day routine usually leads me to the Plaza, Ramada, or Three Kings lobby to meet up with friends and colleagues. With certainty I know that in these three places, I will find a familiar crowd of editors, retailers, tradeshow executives to share my findings with. 

There are also significant networking opportunities surrounding the JA New York shows, JCK Events, In Store, and the AGTA GemFair Tucson. This year, during the Tucson show, JCK is partnering with the American Gem Society Young Titleholders and Gen Next Jewelers to host a networking mixer on February 3 at the JW Marriott Hotel. For more information on how to attend this event, join GNJ on Facebook.

The Women's Jewelry Association, American Gem Society and GNJ associations make it easy to attend exciting awards ceremonies, mixers, and cocktail receptions. One of the most important galas you can attend in the industry is the WJA Awards for Excellence held during the summer. Whether you are a designer, editor, retailer, manufacturer or industry service provider, there is something special that can happen to you by attending this gala.      

To make the most of it, you have to treat all of these events as an extension of the tradeshows and be prepared to fearlessly talk to new people that you may have never met before. Following up with new friends and acquaintances is always easy when you have had fun mingling while at work.

Lisa Nikfarjam is founder of the jewelry design firm, Lisa Nik, a company that combines colored gemstones, diamonds, and artful elements to create fashionable jewelry that women around the world can enjoy on any occasion.

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The Vicenzaoro ‘Italian Club’ Brings 130 Companies to JCK Las Vegas

The Vicenzaoro ‘Italian Club’ Pavilion at JCK Las Vegas.

Italian jewelry, as always, was showing its strength at the JCK Las Vegas jewelry tradeshow, led by Vicenzaoro with its section of 130 manufacturers and designers. The companies came from the jewelry production centers of Vicenza, Valenza, Arezzo, Naples, Marcianise, Torre del Greco and Milan, with 20 percent of vendors exhibiting at North America’s largest tradeshow for the first time.

Presented by Fiera di Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy, where the collection of Vicenzaoro jewelry tradeshows are held each year, the exhibitors presented high jewelry collections and more accessible items in Las Vegas. It’s the eight year that the organization had its "Italian Club" pavilion at the Las Vegas tradeshow. 

Models wearing jewelry from the Vicenzaoro exhibitors.

About 30 exhibitors were represented during fashions show held throughout the four-day tradeshow. In addition, Trend Area's "Inspirations 2014 – MUTATIONS” - made its debut at JCK Luxury, the showcase for exclusive brands, which took place prior to the JCK Show. With its own exhibition area that explored the directions in which style, materials, working methods and consumer behavior are heading and its significance on the luxury industry. 

The TrendVision stand during JCK Luxury.

Jewelry industry pros were able to preview the new trends for 2014 that the TrendVision Jewellery + Forecasting team, Fiera di Vicenza's independent international forecasting center, has identified. The four moods of jewellery trends for the coming 2014 season—“Experimental Nature,” “Shadow Reality,” “Ethno Pop,” “Visionary Structures”—were unveiled at a keynote breakfast.

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UBM to Launch Jewelry Fair in Germany during Baselworld 2014

Does Baselworld have competition? Hong Kong-based tradeshow and publishing company, UBM Asia, has been coy about this but its new jewelry show in Europe will butt heads with Baselworld in 2014.

This new tradeshow called, “Jewellery & Gem Fair – Europe,” will be held April 1 – 4, 2014, in Freiburg, Germany. The dates and location line up nicely with Baselworld 2014, which will be held March 27 – April 3, 2014. Freiburg is less than an hour away from Basel, Switzerland. In fact, it’s so close that when I attended Baselworld two years ago, I stayed in Freiburg

This announcement of a new tradeshow comes after the world’s largest watch and jewelry tradeshow finished a $454.5-million upgrade to the Messe Basel complex that came with several upset vendors. In fact, the 1,460 companies who exhibited at the recently concluded Baselworld 2013 was 355 fewer than those who exhibited the prior year.

The biggest player to exit Baselworld this year was David Yurman, after what was described as “‘exasperating’ back-and-forth with the powers that be at Baselworld.” People from several companies expressed their dissatisfaction to me with their booth placement, the substantial increase in the cost of participating this year, and the pressure to construct newer, larger and more expensive booths for the show. One company, which was one of the few companies to both remain in the same space and not expand their booth, told me they still had to pay 30 percent more than the prior year.

UBM Asia is refusing to acknowledge that they are creating a competing show, calling this new fair “a comprehensive sourcing fair offering a wide range of jewelry products.” It is being positioned “as a high-efficiency, high-level face-to-face jewelry business platform to create real business value for international suppliers and buyers.”

UBM says that more than 260 exhibitors from 25 countries and regions have reserved exhibition space a year ahead of its launch. “This figure represents more than 50 percent of the expected number of exhibitors and represents 60 percent of the total exhibition space which indicates the market’s enthusiasm for this new fair in Europe,” UBM said.

Exhibitors that have signed up are from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong region, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia.

The fair is open to the jewelry trade, business professionals and members of the media. Free admission to save €30 will be granted to preregistered visitors and online preregistration opens in June 2013. 

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Baselworld’s ‘Opening Act’

Baselworld representatives at opening day press conference.

BASEL, Switzerland — Baselworld, the premiere event of the Swiss watch industry, on Wednesday unveiled the latest renovation to the multi-building complex that it calls home. The $454.5-million upgrade reflects the spectacular success of an industry that has defied the trials and tribulations of the worldwide economy and a product that has remained popular despite changing fashion and trends. It also is a response to an industry now dominated by a few luxury conglomerates.

The eight-day watch and jewelry fair actually opens Thursday. Wednesday was press day, where top officials discussed the tradeshow and the industry in general. The discussion of the new design was described as Baselworld’s “opening act” by Sylvie Ritter, managing director of the tradeshow.

While several buildings underwent dramatic change under the leadership of architects Herzog & de Meuron, most eyes are focused on Hall 1, now rebranded as the “Global Hall.” It is the main area for some of the most world-renowned watch and jewelry brands. This year, the area not only underwent dramatic structural change, but occupants changed as well. Several brands (mostly independent) were moved to other areas of the complex. Now brands represented by global conglomerates Swatch Group and LVMH far outnumber independent brands. These include Hublot, Tag Heuer, Breguet and Bulgari.

Independent brands that remain in Hall 1 include Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Ulysse Nardin.

René Kamm, CEO of MCH Group, which operates the Basel fairgrounds (Messe Basel), explained that the redesigned hall is reserved for “watch and jewelry brands that have a global impact and a worldwide reach.”

Speakers put on a unified front and spent a great of deal of time thanking exhibitors. However, change this dramatic does not come easy and several exhibitors who have lost their space in Hall 1 were not happy (although refusing to voice their displeasure publicly).

All of this change also came at a price. Several brand executives told me (or refused to dispute) that exhibiting in Hall 1—which includes the construction of multi-story, elaborate temporary showrooms that also have been upgraded this year—now costs upwards of $5 million.

Jacques J. Duchêne, president of the Baselworld Exhibitors’ Committee, said it is the domination of luxury conglomerates that has led to the changes at Baselworld.

“In the course of the past 15 years, the watch and jewelry industry has been through a consolidation process on a scale never witnessed before, and this has also had its effects on the challenges faced by production and marketing, which have changed radically,” Duchêne said. “Now it is a good thing to take note of changes and to adjust to them, but it is even better still to anticipate needs and to be in a position to satisfy them without delay when they arise.”

The price hike and the pressure to create more elaborate booths were also felt among exhibitors who don’t have the deep pockets of the brands in Hall 1. A few companies actually pulled out of the show. Perhaps seeing an opportunity, Hong Kong-based tradeshow and publishing company, UBM Asia, will open its first tradeshow in the European market next year in nearby Freiburg, Germany, with dates that overlap Baselworld.

 

The international press at the opening of Baselworld

But even though some are a bit disgruntled, the 1,460 companies from 40 countries exhibiting recognize the importance of being there in terms of sheer numbers, glamour and international attention. Many brands will bring international celebrities along to help present their new products. More than 3,500 journalists from 70 countries will be covering the event and approximately 100,000 people will attend.

The show is also buoyed by the amazing success of the Swiss watch industry. In 2012, the industry has produced another record year with exports totaling 21.4 billion Swiss francs ($22.6 billion), a 10.9 percent increase over 2011.

“Today, it is thanks to this excellent state of health of the industry that we are able to present the show to you in its attractive new look,” Duchêne said. 

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Baselworld 2012 Closes with Strong Results, Upbeat and Confident

Business was brisk at Baselworld 2012 and the attitude of both exhibitors and buyers was upbeat and confident.

A fractured arm kept me from attending Baselworld this year Fortunately, veteran watch journalist, William George Shuster, kindly agreed to take time from his busy schedule to write a few stories from the tradeshow. Below is his fourth and final report.

By William George Shuster
Special Correspondent

BASEL, Switzerland — The just-ended Baselworld 2012, the world’s most important and largest watch and jewelry tradeshow, was one of the most successful in its history.

The eight-day show closed March 15 with a 1 percent rise in attendance (to 104,300, its second-highest attendance ever); a 9 percent gain (3,320) in the international press corps at the show; and almost universal satisfaction among vendors—especially those in the luxury sector—with the business, orders and contacts they had; and widespread confidence among retail buyers.

"It was a fascinating week, and truly a good year for us exhibitors. We are highly satisfied,” said Jacques J. Duchêne, long-time chairman of the show’s Exhibitors' Committee. Francois Thiébaud, president of the Swiss Exhibitors Committee, agreed, calling the show a "complete success."

Positive comments. Indeed, this year’s edition of the annual watch and jewelry trade fair on the Rhine in Basel, Switzerland, evoked positive comments from most vendors, both large and small.

Swiss luxury sport brand TAG Heuer, for example, welcomed 30 percent more retailers than last year. It also introduced movie star Cameron Diaz as its new brand ambassador. Luxury watch Hublot—which unveiled its one-of-a-kind $5 million diamond-encrusted timepiece--took “considerably more orders than in [2011],” said CEO Ricardo Guadalupe. At Swiss watchmaker Ellicott, “Response to our new watches—especially the world’s thinnest minute repeater with perpetual calendar (hand-wound)—was very good,” said CEO Pierre-Andre Finazzi to the show’s newspaper, “and price points and units per order are more than last year.”

Despite economic problems in Europe, the U.S. and many other regions of the world, an upbeat business attitude pervaded the fair’s buying and selling. Luxury watch brand Patek Phillippe, for example, noted “an exceedingly positive mood amongst our customers throughout the entire show,” said Jasmine Steel, international communications director, while at the Bulova Corp. stand, “People are excited about our groundbreaking products and technologies,” said Harvey Kaplan, regional vice president. “Business is hot,” declared Jacques-Philippe Auriol, CEO of TechnoMarine watches, to the show’s daily newspaper. “The booth is packed and clients are smiling.”

At Seiko, “sales are much better than expected, and there’s great interest in our new Astron GPS watch,” said Karou Matsumoto, public relations general manager. “Customers are cautiously optimistic, and we share their optimism.”

‘Gratifying’ business. In the Hong Kong delegation of vendors, the show’s second largest, “Purchasing behavior was gratifying and the potential in the boom markets, including Russia and Latin America, highly promising,” said Ralph Chow, director of product promotion for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Gem dealers and vendors of technology and equipment, too, were generally upbeat about business result, as were jewelry firms. The German precious gem house of Groh + Ripp, for example, surpassed 2011’s good results by 25 percent. “The quality of the visitors was exceedingly good,” added Managing Director Bernd Willy Ripp. At Spanish jewelry firm Carrera y Carrera, “For the first time in three years, we don’t hear about the [financial] crisis,” CEO Nathalie Guedj told the BaselWolrd Daily News. “That reflects the very good business the jewelry industry did in 2011. People are confident about the future.”

The Swiss watch delegation was especially pleased. Following a record-breaking year in exports in 2011 (29.8 million watches, valued at 19.3 billion Swiss francs, or about $21 billion), its strong results for Baselworld 2012—driven in lager part by ongoing, growing demand for luxury products, especially in Asia, and China particularly, and “certain emerging markets”—promise another good year for Swiss watchmakers. “While it is always difficult to anticipate results,” said the Swiss Exhibitors Committee’s closing report. “This 40th edition [of Baselworld] augurs well for positive progress in 2012. The 20 billion franc export threshold should be easily crossed and thereby represent the third consecutive growth year [in 2012].”

The enhanced interest by the global media in the show’s news and trends and the sizeable increase in journalists covering the show was especially important to both vendors and show officials. It indicates the importance the show has gained with the global press, and “For exhibitors, the worldwide reports in the specialist, daily, business and lifestyle media, as well as in the online media, TV and radio, are of major importance,” noted Baselworld’s closing report. Luxury watchmaker Patek Philippe, for example, received over 800 journalists at it stand, “a considerable increase over previous years,” noted spokesperson Jasmina Steele.

A new era. For the 104,300 visits from 100-plus nations and the 1,851 vendors from 41 countries, this was the last time they would work in the current exhibition stands or rush hurriedly through its halls. But many said they were already looking forward to what show officials call show’s “new era” starting in 2013.

The show’s owner, MCH Group, is revamping the current Exhibition Square and its surrounding buildings, with an immense makeover valued at just under half-a-billion dollars. The expensive and extensive transformation—including two new three-story building, a two-building above the formerly outside Exhibition Square, a new events hall, and the tearing down of some of the show’s older buildings—transformation is being handled by Basel-based architects Herzog & de Meuron, who also designed the famous Bird’s Nest national stadium in Beijing. The new complex will have 141,000 m2.

Show Director Sylvia Ritter admitted to “a certain amount of nostalgia” for the current buildings sand fair grounds, which will be gone in weeks. “At the same time, I am looking forward impatiently and with great expectations to the new era that will be dawning for this world show,” she said.

The new complex, opening in April 2013, will also involve the relocation of many watch exhibitors in the current Hall 1 and the spending of millions of dollars by exhibitors on new exhibition booths and presentations. “Nearly all the brands will now be investing in their new stands for Baselworld 2013,” said Duchene. “This highlights the fact that we have a great deal of confidence in this [trade show] event, because [it] will be giving us exhibitors even more opportunities to experience positive developments in future."

The next show, Baselworld 2013, will be held April 25 – May 2, 2013.

William George Shuster is a multi-award winning writer—including three Jesse H. Neal Award, business journalism's highest honor. He has 40 years experience as a journalist, author and editor. He is considered one of the world’s top watch industry journalists, covering the world of timepieces for the past 30 years.

Baselworld 2012: End of an Era; Baselworld 2013: A new era begins

Inside Hall 1, the Hall of Dreams, where all the major watch brands at Baselworld 2012 are located. There will be changes among the exhibitors.

A fractured arm kept me from attending Baselworld this year. Fortunately, I know some of the best writers and experts in the jewelry and watch industry. One of those folks is William George Shuster who has kindly agreed to take time from his busy schedule to write a few stories from the tradeshow. Below is his third report.

By William George Shuster
Special Correspondent

Baselworld 2012, the 40th annual edition of the world’s largest and most important watch and jewelry show, may be its most successful yet.

But it also marks the end of an era for the trade fair. Indeed, there was a sense of finality about Baselworld 2012 that had nothing to do with business.

The reason: An enormous and costly restructuring of trade fair buildings and a redesign and revamping of Exhibition Square, the outdoor center of the fair, so total that international visitors and exhibitors from next year onward will not recognize the long-time fair site.

Indeed, Sylvie Ritter, the show director, called Baselworld 2012, a “milestone in the history of our trade show” and “a decisive turning point” before the “start of a new era” in 2013.

This newest modernization in a long history of renovations and expansions of the Basel fairgrounds is scheduled to finished and ready for the 41st edition of Baselworld in April 2013.

Trade show facilities that have housed the annual Baselworld and earlier Swiss watch and jewelry fair for much of the 20th and early 21st centuries are being torn down and replaced with massive new, three-story structures, costing millions of dollars. Show officials promise this enormous undertaking, the most extensive modernization and expansion of the show facilities in its history, will benefit both visitors and exhibitors immensely.

“With investments of around 430 million Swiss francs ($460 million), we will be able to provide our exhibitors, our trade visitors and our journalists with a fantastic trade show infrastructure,” said René Kamm, CEO MCH Group.

The 95-year-old Hall 1, site of  major watch brand exhibitors and the fair ground’s oldest building, will be rebuilt, with its front dismantled, and extended into the exhibition square by a three strew building. Hall 3, across the street (site for gemstone and equipment exhibitors) is being torn down and replaced also with a new three story complex, with a multifunctional event hall (capable of holding up to 2,500 people) on the ground floor. Linking these two buildings will be linked by a two-story complex (starting the second floor level of Hall One, roofing over exhibition square. The exhibition square (pictured left) itself will become a large atrium, open to the public and the trams which will continue to regularly ride through it.

The new complex will have a total of 141,000 square meters and will “ensure a greater level of convenience for our visitors,” says a show report. The final outcome is going to do justice to the expectations of our exhibitors,” says Jacquares Diichene, trade show chairman.

Also changing will be the locations of many exhibitors, especially those watch vendors on the first floor in Hall 1. And members of the Hong Kong exhibitors pavilion, the show’s second largest, will be moving from Hall 6 to Hall 4.

William George Shuster is a multi-award winning writer—including three Jesse H. Neal Award, business journalism's highest honor. He has 40 years experience as a journalist, author and editor. He is considered one of the world’s top watch industry journalists, covering the world of timepieces for the past 30 years.

Free Digital 2012 Jewelry Exhibition Calendar

JewelleryNetAsia has launched a downloadable, digital Jewelry Exhibition Calendar listing major jewelry events to be staged in 2012.

The calendar has details of more than 240 international jewelry exhibitions, conferences and pearl auctions around the globe. It is free of charge from the trade-show information pages of JewelleryNetAsia, the global jewelry trade portal:

Once downloaded and opened, the jewelry-show calendar is automatically displayed in Microsoft Outlook. It can also be displayed in Google and Yahoo calendars.

The Outlook jewelry calendar can also be synchronized to mobile devices, enabling busy professionals—whether trade jewelry buyers, wholesale suppliers or manufacturers—to access important dates quickly and conveniently.

“We thought it would be great to have all shows in one digital file, available anytime on our desktop and mobile devices,” said Jerome Hainz, JewelleryNetAsia manager. “Over 50 percent of our users own a smart phone and are typically traveling a lot to trade shows. With the digital event calendar we provide them with a very smart tool for quick reference.”

Hong Kong Trade Fair Attendance Up 16%

The ceremony at the opening of the fair at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The world’s largest jewelry trade fair has lived up to its billing by smashing attendance records.

The September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, which concluded September 25, saw its attendance increase by 16.3 percent, according to its organizer, UBM Asia. A total of 51,500 trade professionals from 155 countries and regions had the opportunity to view the product and services of more than 3,450 exhibitors from 46 countries. It was the largest exhibitor and visitor turnout in the Fair’s history.

Buyers from China formed the biggest group of visitors from outside Hong Kong with 11,483, up 45 percent from last year. Buyers from India followed with 3,519 visitors, up 12 percent from last year. The United States placed third with 2,423, up 29 percent from last year.

“The strong visitor attendance from China and India was not surprising, considering that these two markets are the main drivers of jewelry demand today. What was even more encouraging was the growth in visitor attendance from the United States and Italy—29 and 42 percent, respectively,” said Celine Lau, director of Jewellery Fairs, UBM Asia. “There was also notable growth in visitor numbers from Brazil, Israel, Iran, Russia, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. This tells us clearly that apart from traditional and mainstream jewelry markets, there are emerging markets that show great potential to become a force of growth in the future.”

The September fair was held in two venues: AsiaWorld-Expo from September 19 to 23, and the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre from September 21 to 25.

Other highlights of the trade fair, include:

* More than 114,000 daily visits were recorded during the Fair.

* Hong Kong-based visitors totaled 16,931, accounting for about 33 percent of the total number of visitors. The rest of the visitors: 34,569, or about 67 percent of the overall total, were from overseas.

* The trade fair organized 27 buyers’ delegation comprising a total of 1,300 buyers from China, Finland, India, Israel, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Russia. Members of the China delegation came from 14 provinces and cities.

* The number of overseas visitors grew by 21.4 percent from last year.

Jacob & Co. Tourbillon and 5 Timezones Watches

BASEL, Switzerland – U.S.-based Jewelry and timepiece company, Jacob & Co., presented several watches that challenged conventional watchmaking methods in terms of design and technical advancements. Three of the watches that represent a sampling of what was shown to me at the Baselworld trade fair follow.

Cyclone Tourbillon

This unusual watch (pictured above) is receiving a great deal of play in the international press for its transparent appearance and technical qualities. The company says it is the first tourbillon in which the tourbillon system and the automatic winding system are completely visible and integrated with each other. The tourbillon carriage is mounted on the oscillating mass of the automatic winding system, moved from its normal position on the back of the watch to the dial side of the movement, offering a full view of its motion. The entire arrangement is contained in a calbre LFT 108 movement, 11.91mm in height, with a diameter of 34.60mm. The automatic winding system is bidirectional, with a power reserve of 45 hours. There is no dial in the conventional sense. Instead, the hour and minute display, small seconds display, and power reserve are incorporated directly into the upper plate of the movement, allowing free movement, as well as an unobstructed view.

Ghost 5 Collection

Part of its new G5 series of the company’s well-known Five Timezones watches, the timepieces show the day and date in five different time zones “on demand.” With the press of a button, the digital displays are illuminated. The pentagonal shape of the case is in the style of the company’s. Five Timezones watch. The watch provides a variety of choices. For example, pressing each of the crowns individually illuminates a single time display, while a longer press of the crown located at the upper right corner of the pentagon will illuminate all displays, which are able to display 32 colors including. The date alone can be displayed for each timezone and the Jacob & Co. logo in the center of the watch glows whenever the time display is activated. Each Ghost timepiece features an interchangeable bezel, available in black PVD, carbon fiber, stainless steel, or 18k rose gold, with white or black diamond set bezels also available.

Grand 5 Collection

This watch collection is similar to Jacob & Co.’s original Five Timezones watch in displaying the local time, as well as the time in four referenced world class cities around the globe. However, the pentagon-shaped watch shows the local time on a dial of the same dimensions as the other timezones. Its central focus is a “turbine” accent that anchors the design and is reminiscent of the air intake of the jet engines. The company says it evokes the adventurous spirit of the 1960s when air travel when the term “jet setter” was coined. Aerodynamically styled bezel elements further accentuate that link. Finishes include 18k rose gold, stainless steel, and stainless steel finished in black PVD (one model receives the full black PVD treatment.) All Grand timepieces are powered by Swiss precision quartz movements, and come with black rubber straps with folding clasps.

Tomorrow, Jacob & Co.'s new jewelry collections from Baselworld.