We start the fair on a high with Van Cleef & Arpels and the promise that we’ll be taken on a journey from the heavens and back. Starting with the breathtaking Lady Arpels Planetarium and Midnight Zodiac Lumineux, VCA then brought us home to a flower garden filled with delights to capture any woman’s heart. Here, a dazzling Primerose corsage that can be worn as a watch or brooch.

Another bejewelled number from the Le Jardin collection, which contains a total of 9 designs, including a ladybird for a measure of good luck.

Make no mistake: This watch may seem like the Midnight Planetarium that the brand released four years ago, but this watch was developed from scratch and took three years in the making. Like its precursor, the planets rotate around the bezel in real time (i.e. earth takes 365 days to make a full rotation; Mercury, 88 days) but this watch has an added complication: A satellite moon that takes 29.5 days to make its way around earth.

And how could we leave out the Sweet Alhambra with new dials including mother-of-pearl, and the lapis lazuli and turquoise shown here.

Montblanc, on the other hand, took to the mountains to celebrate the 160th anniversary of Minerva with its 1858 collection. New Star Legacy (shown here) and Timewalker editions round up the show.

One of the stars of the 1858 collection, the 1858 Geosphere features a World Time complication along with a representation of both hemispheres (which make a full rotation every 24 hours) on its dial.

This year sees Montblanc updating its Star Legacy collection with six new models, including the limited edition Suspended Exo Tourbillon, the Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph and the Star Legacy Automatic Chronograph.

Then it’s off to Richard Mille we go to get our hands on its new RM 07-01 in Gem-set black ceramic with diamonds. Having conquered the technique of setting diamonds in Carbon TPT, the watchmaker has turned its sights to another tricky material. The result? A matt black surface contrasted with glittering diamonds to stunning effect.

Audemars Piguet continues breaking new grounds with the world’s thinnest automatic Perpetual Calendar, its first Royal Oak Concept watch for women and the introduction of its first-ever Flying Tourbillon. Ladies can also expect three new Millenary designs (incorporating Frosted Gold finish and Polish mesh bracelets) aerating the emblematic collection.

Encased in a petite 37mm Frosted Gold body is a patented double balance wheel mechanism that’s made all the more mesmerising, thanks to its openwork artistry.

Fifteen years after introducing its first Royal Oak Concept watch, Audemars Piguet unveiled the Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon – a watch that is blessed with two distinctions: It’s the first concept watch dedicated to women and it bares the Manufacture’s first-ever Flying Tourbillon.

It’s not everyday that one gets to see headline grabbing art at SIHH but thanks to Ulysse Nardin, we got to experience just that. The brand turned to Damien Hirst’s controversial “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable” (unveiled in Venice last year) to set the stage for its star of the year, the Freak Vision.

The technical innovations introduced in last year’s InnoVision 2 Concept Watch are now being brought to regular production in the Freak Vision, which also happens to be the Freak collection’s first automatic watch.