Watch Blogging is a Seasonal Activity

New watches are released all year round, but the most valued brands release their watches in the first quarter of the year. In January of each year, the brands belonging to the Richmont Group, which include: A.Lange & Söhne, Alfred Dunhill, Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Jean Richard, Girard Perregaux, Greubel Forsey, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre, Montblanc, Officine Panerai, Parmigiani Fleurier, Piaget, Ralph Lauren Watch Jewelry Co., Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin, and Van Cleef  & Arpels show off the models they will be releasing throughout the year. Come March, except this year when it will be held in April, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega and the other big brands show of their new wares at BaselWorld. 

This makes for a rather exciting early part of the year, and a rather boring rest of the year. 

Well, the good news is that, January is not too far away. I don't try to follow all the brands anymore. This being a hobby blog, I decided a few years ago, that I would not give equal "coverage", and just cover the brands I personally love. For the Richmont Group, that is IWC and Panerai. 

I am expecting a disappointing January 2013, in a way. 

I love IWC Pilots watches, even if most are too big for my wrist. This entire line-up was revised in 2012, and I love the new designs, and the way they differentiated their Spitfire and Top Gun series from their regular pilots watches. Given my bias, it will be hard for IWC to top that.  

This year I expect IWC to revamp their INGENIEUR line-up, basically IWC line of rugged watches. This is a line of watches which I feel IWC should revise. With all due respect (of which a lot is due) to IWC designers, is like having only the Top Gun series of pilots watches. 

As for Panerai, I am wondering how many more times they can rework their current designs. Panerai has done a great job of reinventing old designs. But 2012 was, in my opinion, a not so exciting year for Panerai. 

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for an amazing January. SIHH is scheduled for January 21-25, 2013.