On China Time

Watches & Wonders in Sanya capitalises on the rising demand for luxury chronographs on the mainland

In case you missed the chronological action of the last two months, there’s still time to see Watches & Wonders in Sanya. Hosted on the island province of Hainan, the fair has brought 11 prestigious watch brands to CDF Mall, the biggest duty-free complex in the world, until the end of October. This event follows the fair’s debut in Shanghai in September.

Demand for timepieces in China continues to rise. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, despite the difficulties global markets faced in August, China’s watch demand grew for the third month in a row – by 44.9%. “Cumulative performance for the first eight months of the year shows that China has already returned to growth at 1.6%,” according to the trade association.

The brands exhibiting in Sanya include A.Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget, Hermès, Montblanc, Roger Dubuis and Vacheron Constantin. All of them are showcasing their latest releases along with hands-on introductions to watchm augmented-reality experiences, an series of talks and discussions.

Watches & Wonders Sanya is th of a cooperative agreement betwe China Duty Free Group (CDFG) an Switzerland’s Fondation de la Hau Horlogerie. Set up in 1984, with m than 1,000 brands in its portfolio, develops duty-free business acros “It is an embodiment of our common for demonstrating and communic the aesthetic and cultural values o watches and jewellery,” says Charl Chen, the president of CDFG. “I am confident that this cooperation wil a gala for watch and jewellery lov in China, usher in the ‘China time the Chinese tourism retail market open up new landscapes for dutycooperation in China and worldw

For those of you who can’t mak to Sanya before October 31, you ca follow the exclusive event online a