After many years of closure towards all the independent brands that are exhibiting around the city of Geneva in January, at the same time of the SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie), the fair finally opens the door to the small creators that “makes real difference” in the contemporary watchmaking world… And for “difference” we obviously not talking about the revenue or the number of pieces produced every year, but about creativity, innovation, art, and savoir faire.

Yes, you are not misreading! From 18^th to the 22^nd of January 2016, when SIHH will celebrate its 26^th edition, there will be several novelties. Not only La Cité de la Haute Horlogerie, the Salon’s architectural concept for the past ten years, returns with a new concept, that allows the exhibitors to be much more creative on their booth layout, but there will also be a whole new area, dedicated to the small independent watchmakers, the Carré des Horlogers.

Beside the 15 usual exhibiting big maisons, A.Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Greubel Forsey, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Panerai, Parmigiani, Piaget, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Van Cleef & Arpels and Vacheron Constantin, SIHH visitors will benefit of the presence of Christophe Claret, De Bethune, H. Moser & Cie, Hautlence, HYT, Kari Voutilainen, Laurent Ferrier, MB&F and Urwerk.

That’s one small step for an “institution”, but a giant leap for independent watchmaking.