Baselworld 2019 will most likely go down as the show’s deciding year: On one hand, Baselworld had to deal with yet another significantly lower number of exhibitors (and visitors); on the other hand, the show’s new management also had to make sure the outlook for 2020 would be convincing enough to bring back large portions of the watch and jewelry industry it had lost in just two years (if it ever wants to go back to being profitable). Still, the 2019 edition was good, and Baselworld is by far the largest and most important show for the watch industry, even without the brands from the groups like Kering, Haldian, Movado and, most importantly, Swatch Group present. More importantly, Swiss investment bank Vontobel concluded that ?feedback from Baselworld was more positive than expected with almost all brands talking about a higher order intake?. Which is good news for everyone, even though ?America has seen a little bit of a slowdown,? according to Vontobel.
WatchTime?s editorial team (as well as all our international colleagues from Mexico, India, Dubai, Germany and China to just name a few) spent several days on the ground in Basel, visited a majority of the brands present (some of them have already been covered here), and are now working on the Baselworld special for the upcoming issue of WatchTime magazine (July). Until then, we?re certain you will appreciate a slightly more personal selection of some the highlights seen by Roger Ruegger (RR), Mark Bernardo (...