So..  another BaselWorld, as it’s known, has come and gone.  I thought I would take a moment to report on what I’ve learned so far, and also explain the event a bit for the benefit who may not be familiar with its significance.

The Basel Watch Fair, or BaselWorld, has been hosted by Basel, Switzerland for many a year and is simply put, the single most important gathering of watch enthusiasts, manufacturers, and industry leaders in the world.  Nothing else even comes close.  This is where all trends start or fizzle, and dreams and innovations are both made and broken.

The show is divided among six halls which vary in size but several are the equivalent of a medium size sports arena, and are spread over several city blocks.  Opulence is the name of the game in Hall 1 (known as the Hall of Dreams) where Patek’s booth (”booth” in this Hall equates to two and three level buildings) is a scaled down version of the MOMA museum with the front area built of Lalique crystal, Tag Heuer’s is a three story black iceberg, and Breitling suspends a 27 ton fish tank in midair, among many other showcases.  Other halls will contain less high profile brands, accessories, boutique luxury brands, OEM manufacturers, manufacturers providing the gear used to make watches and components, etc.

You cannot see the entire show in a day; you cannot see it in two.  I have always spent the better part of a week when I have attended and still would never claim to have seen everything.  I have attended 9 of the last 11 (for the record I have missed this years and the year of the SARS issue) and the knowledge and insight gleaned from the experience is invaluable.  Getting to meet, interview, and even take instruction from some of the finest watchmakers in the world is surely a treat for any watch guy.  Having missed this year (the first in years), am especially grateful to have attended nine of the previous ten.  I can’t imagine how far out of the loop of real and credible info someone in the industry would be having missed two or even three years running.  Reading reports is nice, but obviously there is nothing like being there.

That stated, having yes, missed this years myself, I am going to give what insight I can based on talking extensively to trusted colleagues who did attend, either as a journalist, exhibitor, or  buyer, not to mention fan.

The overview seems to be this; attendance was definitely down, as was exhibiting.  Not in the big power halls, such as One, or the boutique high end brands, but definitely so in the more mainstream brands.  Many companies that I work with and know either curtailed their visit, or eliminated it.  The reason of course is the current economy.  It was noted at the show that US attendees at the show were down dramatically, though attendance was definitely down from around the world.

Almost in anticipation of this, multiple sources tell me that innovation, specifically investment in such, was held back, at least at the relatively affordable level, though there were definitely some nice mechanical releases unveiled.  Once you crossed the line into the “recession proof” ultra high end the story was apparently a bit different, though as yet I’ve yet to hear of a must see star achievement of the show being named.

It is interesting to compare BaselWorld to the Geneva show.  Geneva hosts a lesser known but exclusive show that coincides with Basel, a show made up of mid-level (for the most part) luxury brands that for whatever reason prefer the Geneva venue over Basel.  There the traffic was down even more, which am told is attributed to the price range of 5000-20000 dollar retail being the predominant spread for Geneva participants.

So… what does all this mean?  In a nutshell, it means change.  It means that the industry at large with have to move and adapt.  I’ll blog more on that at a future date.  In the meantime, I trust this gives you at least a bit of insight into the 2009 show, and as always, I thank you for visiting!

Tim