Vicenzaoro Highlights, September 2023: All the Industry’s Mainstream

A full day yesterday at Vicenzaoro September with numerous events focusing on the sector current mainstream issues. Starting with those regarding watchmaking as part of VO’ Clock Privé, Italian Exhibition Group’s B2C format that, in just two editions, has already become watch lovers and collectors’ most talked-about “piazza” thanks to talks, meet-ups and one-to-one meetings with master watchmakers, company spokespersons, experts and influencers. The place where several of the big names in quality watchmaking, both Italian and otherwise, took the stage: the first of two courses organized by Ugo Pancani, Professor of Mechanical and Electronic Watchmaking and Trainer at the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, kicked off at 9 am. The Watch Essential course, which ended at 7 pm with a proper end-of-day test in live streaming with the Geneva headquarters, is generally considered the first step for anyone wishing to embark on the path to haute horlogerie consultancy. Taking the course here at Vicenzaoro, the only venue outside Geneva, therefore offered an extraordinary opportunity. A highly summarized taste of what the FHH world is all about will be provided today during the second course scheduled to take place from 11 aonm to 1 pm. With focus on the “Tourbillon. One of the most fascinating complications in haute horlogerie”. In the VOC Lounge, a series of talks took place in rotation starting from the one starring Beppe Ambrosini, rightly defined as the “historical memory” of timepieces in Italy, followed by those on Hublot and the legend of Zenith’s El Primero, a brand that has set up its prestigious Watch Clinic, usually only available at the Swiss parent company premises in Le Locle, here at Vicenzaoro for the first time. The talk on Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo with speaker Andrea Granalli, High End Watches WW Sales Director Bulgari Time SA., and the one on the 35th anniversary of the Frederique Constant manifacture and on the 15th of Tourbillon, proved to be extremely popular, also via streaming on The Jewellery Golden Cloud channel. Yesterday morning, in the Palladio Theatre, the focus was on Art Intelligence applied to jewelry and design as a new means of supporting the industry that can open yet unexplored frontiers. Paola De Luca, Co-Founder & Creative Director of Trendvision Jewellery + Forecasting, instigated creative directors, such as Nadine Kanso, Stefano Russo, Lalla and Davide Busatti, as well as sector expert Sienna Rourke, A.I. Artist and Founder of Planet Fantastique, on the subject in a dialogue that began with practical data and went on to imaginative hypotheses. So far, the overall figures of this Vicenzaoro demonstrate that it is the best September edition ever, not only thanks to the all sold-out exhibition space with over 1,200 companies from 34 countries. A result that is the perfect viaticum for an important and much-awaited milestone in 2024: 70 years of the exhibition, which, as Corrado Peraboni, CEO of Italian Exhibition Group, announced during the Opening Ceremony, is a «milestone but also a turning point, because January edition will be the last one to feature the Expo Center’s current layout. As of next spring, a total redevelopment plan will be getting underway, which will also revive IEG commitment to this magnificent city.»