What the Watch Industry Really Thinks About Baselworld

Last week, the Swatch Group pulled out of Baselworld, complaining the century-old watch fair had failed to innovate and was no longer worth the money This week, JCK surveyed some leading watch executives, retailers, and insiders-most of whom wished to remain anonymous-to get their opinion on the fair's future "The future of the fair will be determined by Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Swatch" "Swatch's departure may have been a political move to force out current management and to force additional changes to the fair," says one exhibitor, who admits he's a skeptic on the future of watch shows in general.

"The fair organizers seemed more interested in their revenue than in that of their exhibitors," he says "For a fair to be a success, it must be first of all a success for the exhibitors, which automatically [boosts] the retailer and press experience Baselworld was, for example, a terrible experience for collectors.

It is time that changed." Still, Büsser sounded upbeat about the fair's future, feeling that Swatch leaving will be "Extremely positive" for up-and-coming manufacturers like him. . Source