Bye bye Basel… It had been canceled this year due to a pandemic, even if we were only talking about a postponement to January 2021. Now, it is not certain that the Basel watchmaking salon, however old century, never took place again, for lack of renowned participants. "We have participated in Baselworld since 1939," explains Jean-Frédéric Dufour, CEO of Rolex and director of Tudor. Unfortunately, given the evolution of this event and the decisions taken by MCH Group in recent times, and despite all the attachment we had to this watch fair, we decided to withdraw. Following discussions launched by Rolex, the creation of a new salon with partners who have shared our vision and our unwavering support for the Swiss watch industry has always come naturally. It will allow us to present our new products according to our needs and expectations, to join forces and to defend the interests of the sector more solidly. ”
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Already, many brands had deserted the aisles, angry both because of the exorbitant prices of the stands and the lack of hospitality of the city itself. The Swatch Group had already opened the breach by withdrawing from the show. Breitling had chosen to organize its own keynotes around the world, while certain Kering brands (Girard Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin) had joined the Geneva watch trade show, the SIHH, recently renamed Watches & Wonders. The brands of the LVMH group's watchmaking division had hitherto continued to participate, while organizing a Dubai Watch Week on their side, just before the epidemic.
Judikael Hirel
Exhibitors "more in line with the vision of the show"
But the accumulation of decisions taken without consulting the exhibiting brands, starting with the announcement of the postponement of the show to next January, will ultimately have been right for the patience of the best supporters of Baselworld. Recently, Baselworld had also announced to certain exhibitors that they would keep 70% of the cost already paid for their stand of the 2020 edition postponed in the event of non-participation in the January 2021 edition. What will create some fierce enmities in addition ... " The decision to leave Baselworld was not easy, being myself the fourth generation of the Stern family to participate in this traditional annual event, says Thierry Stern, president of Patek Philippe. But life evolves, things change and so do people, whether at the level of those responsible for organizing the watch fair, brands, retailers or even end customers. We always have to adapt and question ourselves, because what was right yesterday is no longer necessarily today! Today, Patek Philippe is no longer in line with the vision of the Baselworld fair, there have been too many discussions and unresolved problems, the confidence is no longer there. This is why, after various discussions with Rolex and in agreement with the other participating brands, we decided to create, together, a unique event in Geneva, representative of our know-how. ”
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“It's an earthquake. We went from a crisis to a revolution, confided recently Gregory Pons, creator of the news site Business Watches, at the time of the cancellation of the watch fairs in Basel and Geneva for 2020. It is the end of this generation watch fairs. I think that watch fairs are necessary, but that we have to reinvent them. ” Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chanel, Chopard and Tudor are therefore leaving Basel to create a new watch fair in Geneva, at Palexpo, alongside the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, on the same dates as those planned for the next Watches & Wonders show, beginning April 2021. "This departure follows several unilateral and unilateral decisions taken by the management of Baselworld, including the postponement of the Fair in January 2021, as well as its inability to meet the expectations and needs of brands", explained the five houses in a joint statement. "This initiative marks a key date in the history of Chanel watchmaking and is part of a long-term strategy, which began with the launch of this activity in 1987," said Frédéric Grangié, President of Chanel Horlogerie -Jewellery. This new show will allow us to present all of our new creations in an environment that meets our demanding criteria. ”
Judikael Hirel
“Chopard exhibited at the Basel fair for the first time in 1964 on an area of around 25 m2. After careful consideration, our family decided to join the Rolex initiative and thus leave Baselworld, not without emotion, said Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard et Cie. The creation of this new watch fair in Geneva, alongside Watches & Wonders, will allow us to better serve our partners in watchmaking as well as our customers. With the merger of several major houses, we will also be able to jointly defend the values and interests of Swiss watchmaking. ” This new meeting will primarily target retailers, the press and VIP customers. Other brands could no doubt join them in the coming months. For the moment, the teams hitherto responsible for relaunching the concept of the Baselworld show have not yet reacted to this announcement which is upsetting the secular landscape of Swiss watchmaking, far beyond the current pandemic which has closed the stores around the world and shut down factories.
