Editor’s Note
This report details a significant shift in the luxury watch industry, as the Swatch Group ends its century-long participation in the prestigious Baselworld fair.
The Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group, owner of luxury brands Omega and Longines, is quitting the annual Baselworld watch and jewellery trade fair, according to a report by the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. This decision marks the end of the company’s participation in an event that has been a fixture of the luxury industry calendar for a century.
Swatch Group is the most important exhibitor at Baselworld, an event whose history traces back to 1917. However, more brands are deserting the fair held every March, citing high costs and insufficient returns.
the newspaper quoted Swatch CEO Nick Hayek as saying on Sunday.
The portfolio of Swatch Group, which is based in Biel in western Switzerland, spans from the expensive Breguet to the more affordable Longines and the plastic Swatch timepieces.
While some of Swatch’s high-end competitors have left Basel for a rival fair, the SIHH in Geneva, Hayek stated that traditional annual watch fairs were no longer as useful in a more transparent and fast-paced world.
Major exhibitors such as Swatch budget about 50 million Swiss francs (US$50.3 million) for each Baselworld, covering travel and hotel expenses for staff and guests, the paper reported.
Hayek, a famously outspoken figure in a staid industry, cited the cost of the fair’s 430 million Swiss franc exhibition building, Messe Basel, as a reason for the decision to withdraw.
Hayek told the newspaper.
