Chrono Hunter welcomes you to attend with us, our experiences of the first night of Salon QP 2018, one of Europe’s finest watch and luxury lifestyle experience, and this year celebrating its 10th edition.

On a chilly winter's evening, just off the Kings Road, Chelsea, in the heart of one of the finest contemporary art galleries in London, a gathering of some of the biggest and boldest names in the world of watchmaking are ushered in from the brightly illuminated walkway and towards the main entrance of the Saatchi Gallery, for an evening of fine wine, fine food, and of course, fine watches....

Stepping through the door of Salon QP 2018 into the ultra modern space of the reception area, already, hundreds upon hundreds of dedicated watch enthusiasts from all around the world can be can be glimpsed from every angle out of the reception hall, and,  in an opening towards the rear of the main lobby, in the area serving as the cosy and classy looking bar, at the end of a long corridor (not that we had to walk far for a glass of champagne that is), in the rear atrium of the gallery the voices can be heard warmly socialising with one another, reverberating from the crisp white walls and filling the room all around you, with an upbeat atmosphere of delight we were to experience of the night to come.

With the Salon QP 2018 exhibition stretching across a vast floorspace over two levels in the galleries halls, your intrepid guides ditched the winter jackets, adjusted their ties, and stepped into the first exhibition room to see what was going on.

After taking in all the history on display at the Breitling stand with a rather fine display cabinet containing an original example of one of each of the Dirty Dozen War Watches, we made our way to the Breguet display, where we had a good old chat with the rather glamorous representatives of the renowned 1775 watchmaker, taking in what was on display of their latest Marine Collection - we flowed with the masses of journalists, watchmakers, brand directors and retailers attending Salon QP 2018 across the two floors, taking in the mechanical mastery of the the watches on display from MB&F (the cool and very clever MoonMachine 2), Konstantin Chaykin (their playful, but yet full of poise Joker watch) towards what really should have been considered as the star of the show (and rightly so) Bovet’s Récital 22 Grand Récital, Aiguille d'Or of the recent Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève 2018 awards winning watch.

With a limited run of just 60 of these incredibly complex tellurium timepieces (that’s a watch that features the astronomical complication representing the position of the earth in respect to the sun and the moon) this watch perfectly showcases the complexity and craftsmanship of the brands master watchmakers, who have managed to elegantly piece together the 750 or so separate parts that make up this Quantième Perpétuel. (that’s Perpetual Calendar to you and me).

With the evening drawing to a close, and fearing a not so pleasant parking ticket on the Chrono Hunter Land Rover, we made our way back and out into the night, to find some fine French cuisine to bring our evening to to an end...Thank you Salon QP 2018 - Bon Anniversaire..

*The Chrono Hunter team were delighted to attend this event thanks to the invitation from none other than James Gurney, Executive Director of Salon QP, and Founder of QP, the eponymous magazine from which the event derives its name, after he had reached out to learn more about Chrono Hunters unique position in the luxury watch industry, from company Directors Max Nordigian and Sam Rayner earlier this month.