News The 33rd World Watch and Jewellery Show (Basel, March 31 to April 7, 2005) ended on a note of satisfaction all round.
The 90,000 or so visitors have had the opportunity to discover a varied and appealing range of new Swiss creations, with models to suit all budgets. Uniting creativity, beauty and technical expertise - and interspersed with a touch of boldness and colour at times - these timepieces have met with a resounding success, implying that 2005 is set to be an excellent year. With more than 400 Swiss exhibitors present in the different exhibition halls, including the luxuriously re-appointed and enlarged Hall 3, the importance that the Swiss brands attach to Baselworld has been in clear evidence once again. A show with the accent on direct contacts and cultural exchanges and one which has witnessed promising business deals over these past few days.
Amongst the more than 2000 exhibitors in attendance, Switzerland is the country represented by the greatest number of brands, at 412. Accounting for almost 45% of the stand surface area, the Swiss brands have duly confirmed that Switzerland does indeed dominate the top end of the range. Commenting on these figures, Sylvie Ritter, director of Baselworld, adds that "more than 90% of what is produced in Switzerland is presented at Basel".
The joyful expressions that are visible all round suggest that the forecasts announced by Jean-Daniel Pasche, President of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH), will be confirmed over the months to come. According to Jean-Daniel Pasche the watchmaking sector can reckon on growth of 6 to 7%, after breaking all previous records in 2004 (11.1 billion Swiss francs) and continuing in this same vein during the first two months of 2005 (+12.1% for January/February). To use his words, this is indeed "a show serving to consolidate and confirm" the economic trends.
Marking the outcome of development and restructuring measures that have been staggered over a period of seven years, this Basel Show has completed its metamorphosis with the new exhibition hall devoted to precious beads and stones (Hall 3), which was inaugurated by Federal Councillor, Joseph Deiss, on Thursday, 31 March 2005. Exhibitors now have six different luxury exhibition halls at their disposal for setting up stands or occupying the areas fitted out by the Show. With the accent clearly on providing a personalised welcome, they have allocated key positions to their offices and lounges. In overall terms, the stands in the different halls have been more discrete than in previous years, while nonetheless retaining their luxurious look. This refined soberness is doubtless intended to recall, in just the right tone, that the true stars of the Basel event are the watches and the jewels.
Testifying to an eclecticism fully in line with the spirit of the times, the creations on show cater for the full range of budgets and tastes. And, of course, the exceedingly fine items of haute horlogerie and haute joaillerie have served to demonstrate Swiss excellence once again. In global terms, the innovations have confirmed the trends that had already been pinpointed, namely a large-scale return to mechanical movements, complications for men and women alike, the rediscovered pleasure of yellow gold, the highlighting and revamping of calibres and designs that made their mark in earlier times, and the boldness of shapes and colours, even in those brands reputed for their classical tastes.
For eight days, Basel has taken on the role of world capital of watchmaking and jewellery. The quality of its infrastructure and its welcome have ensured that Baselworld not only makes a fine setting for the Swiss creations but is also a window that opens onto the entire world. In this age of global communication and new technologies, the Basel Show has demonstrated that contacts maintained over long distances are no substitute for direct contacts between sellers and buyers; it thus serves as a platform of choice for the Swiss ateliers and Manufactures, on the one hand, and international connoisseurs of fine creations, on the other.
The World Watch and Jewellery Show Baselworld 2006 will be held from March 30 to April 6, 2006.
April 26, 2005
