o matter if the news from the retail front is deceptive, if for some sell-out is cause for concern; tired faces will have had a UV pick-me-up, hands will be shaken, backs slapped, secrets well-kept. For once we have the impression we are “at the centre of the universe”, so why spoil things?

But everyone knows: oil is at the centre of the universe, rare earths are at the centre of the universe, chemicals are at the centre of the universe. But watches? How heavily do watches weigh in the global balance? What if, tomorrow, people stopped wearing watches. What difference would it make? None. Or very little.

Watchmaking is vulnerable, dependent, exposed to geopolitical uncertainty and the attendant economic tremors over which it has no control. It shines but sometimes, in its nightmares, fears it may end up shining in empty space.

It’s a little like poetry. If poetry were to disappear, would anyone really care? And what if music were to vanish? If I might venture a comparison: watchmaking is poetry. And sometimes even music. Superfluous but essential.

Like many, I was struck by an image in the media. That of Mark Zuckerberg – who is at the centre of the universe – in his new ripped, post-glow-up version, announcing his allegiance to Trump. Wearing the Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1. A watch that could not be further removed from the tech that made Zuck his fortune. Was he possibly engaging in poetry without realising?

I don’t know. What I do know is that he was fully aware of the substantial economic heft of the entirely handcrafted, artisanal object attached to his wrist. In reality, this was less a watch with which to tell the time and more jewel — which is perhaps where jewellery and watchmaking part company. Whenever watchmaking is in economic dire straits, jewellery appears to weather every storm, seemingly indifferent to the world around it.

Jewellery has existed since protohistory, perhaps since prehistory. It expresses humankind’s fundamental need for adornment, to feel beautiful and precious. Since the dawn of time, jewellery is also a social marker, an indication of its wearer’s rank. By sporting his Hand Made 1, with its almost one million dollar price tag, Zuckerberg was perhaps unwittingly engaging in poetry; he was also asserting his primacy and, for a brief moment, putting watchmaking back at the centre of the universe.