A little over a week before Watches and Wonders opened, Rexhep Rexhepi, the celebrated independent watchmaker from Geneva, introduced an entirely new watch: a flyback chronograph called the “RRCHF,” his first new model in nearly three years. By the time I arrived at one of the five workshops he owns on Grand-Rue in Old Town Geneva—on a sunny Thursday morning during Watches and Wonders week—to see the piece and catch up with him in person, Rexhepi had already received more than 1,700 requests. (To put that in context, his atelier makes no more than 60 watches per year.) It was a busy day for Rexhepi’s team, as they welcomed a stream of collectors and press into the cozy space, thoughtfully designed by Rexhepi and his wife, Annabelle (their book collection alone is museum-worthy). To avoid having too many people crowding the new watch at once, I was asked to wait in the greeting area on..
