Over the past few years, and especially in the midst of pandemic lockdowns that gave people ample time to spend on social media, the industry has done a 180-degree turn. It was November 2015 when Rolex, the world’s most popular luxury watch brand by any measurement, posted its first image on Instagram (a blurry shot of a Rolex clock at CHIO Aachen, the World Equestrian Festival, in Germany).īut as smartphone cameras improved, allowing better macro photography, watch lovers began to come around.

“It was a place to share pictures of your lunch.” Bhatt said on a recent call from his home in Cyprus. “At that time, no one believed social media was a platform to talk about luxury goods,” Mr. “And watchmakers say, ‘Fair, we’ll make that.’” Catalyst For CreationĪ decade ago, when Instagram was still in its infancy, few people in the Swiss watch trade would have imagined a social media platform could have that much sway.Īnish Bhatt - known as one of the industry’s original influencers - said that when he went to the 2011 Baselworld watch fair with his new handle, he found Instagram to be a tough sell. “That’s what everyone wants, whether they’re $5,000 or $50,000,” Mr. “Everyone is seeing, partially driven by Instagram, that what sells now are 39- to 42-millimeter stainless steel sport watches with integrated bracelets and blue or gray dials,” said Stephen Pulvirent, a former editor at the watch publication Hodinkee who recently founded his own creative agency, Rime & Reason, in Santa Monica, Calif. Perves said “comforted” the brand and led it to introduce two limited editions last month.) (In Vacheron’s case, its Overseas Everest prototype received a lot of positive comment when the mountaineer and photographer Cory Richards wore it in 2019, something that Mr. Yet it’s clear there is a correlation between the kinds of watches that generate engagement - likes, comments and shares - and those that catch fire in the marketplace. “While Instagram has changed the way we approach content creation and communication, it has no impact on our timepiece design codes, which are created with the same principles and values that have guided our maison for the past 266 years,” Laurent Perves, Vacheron Constantin’s chief commercial officer, wrote in an email. Bound by centuries of heritage, most watchmakers insist that what happens, or doesn’t happen, on the app has no bearing on the look and feel of their products.

The degree to which the photo-sharing app shapes design, however, is a delicate subject. “This is the strength of social media.”Īs a platform for discovery, connection and, increasingly, commerce, Instagram has become the backbone of the luxury watch industry since its introduction in 2010. “The Chronomat, which we launched last year in April, with the famous bullet steel bracelet - the design was confirmed by one of these advisory board meetings from people who commented on my Instagram,” he added.

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