Is Time Up for the World's Largest Watch and Jewelry Fair?

May 17, 2019.In March the halls of Baselworld, usually packed with brand representatives, buyers and members of the media, were instead buzzing with talk of a show in crisis "Baselworld celebrates a form of luxury rooted in the 1990s," said Rolf Studer, joint executive officer of the independent Swiss watch company Oris, a longtime Baselworld exhibitor As Baselworld 2019 closed, he announced some changes, which he expanded on during a recent interview in London.

Although MCH spent 430 million Swiss francs refurbishing Messe Basel - in 2013 it reopened the 1.5 million-square-foot exhibition site where Baselworld is held - Mr Loris-Melikoff said he was "Not obliged" to keep the show in Basel Swatch Group announced last July that the $50 million it had been spending at Baselworld for everything from exhibitor fees to stand construction would be put to use elsewhere.

The bank placed Patek Philippe fifth with sales of 1.4 billion francs, and listed the Baselworld exhibitors TAG Heuer, Hublot, Chopard and Bulgari among the global top 25 by sales Brian Duffy, chief executive of the British-based Watches of Switzerland Group of retailers, said, "There was a need for a wake-up call and it should have changed sooner But what gives me the greatest optimism is very clear support for Baselworld from Rolex and Patek that all but guarantees its future". Source