SalonQP sees visitor numbers rise by 16%
LONDON, November 15, 2014 – SalonQP returned to the Saatchi Gallery for the sixth edition of the show, from 6-8 November 2014, and reported the highest visitor numbers to date, up 16% on 2013.
Visitors came to the show to admire and acquire some of the finest and most beautiful timepieces currently made, from established maisons such as Jaeger-LeCoultre and TAG Heuer to younger watch brands such as Schofield and Alexandre Meerson.
2014 also marked the first year that SalonQP had partnered with the Grand Prix D’Horlogerie de Genève, the ‘Oscars of the watch industry’.
SalonQP displayed the winners of the GPHG, less than a week after they were announced.
This was supported by a pre-show introduction to the GPHG by the President of the organisation Mr Carlo Lamprecht and the Swiss Ambassador Dominik Furgler, in the seminar room at SalonQP.
New for this year, SalonQP hosted a special high jewellery watch exhibition entitled ‘Gems of Time’.
This brought together some of the finest contemporary jewellery watch makers (Backes & Strauss, Bulgari, Cartier, De Beers, Piaget and Jaeger-LeCoultre) and displayed their magnificent creations in a space reminiscent of a jewellery box.The high jewellery watches on display were invaluable and as part of the exhibition there were exceptional drawings by artist Nuno da Costa on display.
SalonQP was delighted with the success of the seminar programme, which proved to be the most popular to date with standing room only in many of the seminars, demonstrating a high level of engagement with our guests.
Particular highlights included ‘Emeralds, Jewels and Time’, a talk on the history of emeralds by Joanna Hardy, and ‘The vintage Rolex phenomenon’, a panel discussion hosted by renowned Rolex authority and collector James Dowling.
Adding to the luxurious feel for the consumer was the Harrods lounge which included a bar for refreshments and a comfortable seating area.
Alongside the lounge, Bosendorfer placed two grand pianos, each of which was played by the highly acclaimed concert pianist Dora Deliyska, who flew in from Vienna especially for the show.
SalonQP had a host of activities for guests to interact with to further enhance their experience and knowledge about watches – Jaeger-LeCoultre hosted a Sound Lab at their stand which gave guests the opportunity to learn about the fine art of creating an exquisite minute repeater; and TAG Heuer had a Batak machine on their stand, the very same machine that is used to test the reaction times of Formula One racing drivers.
SalonQP ran a social media competition throughout the show which encouraged guests to share their own watch on either Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags #MyTimepiece and #SalonQP14 – the lucky winner will win a stay in the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva.
Other high profile visitors and collectors throughout the show included: Theo Fennell, Ian Wright, Maria Sharapova, Max Chilton, Brendon Hartley, Mo Coppoletta and Charlie Boorman.
