If anyone ever had doubts, the coup de grace has came to Baselworld. The execution is in the form of a statement from the LVMH group. The Swiss watch manufacturers of the Lvmh Group, which include Tag Heuer, Hublot and Zenith and the Maison Bvlgari, took note of the abandonment of Baselworld by Rolex, Tudor, Patek Philippe, Chanel and Chopard, says the official note of the French group . “In this context of evident weakening of representativeness of the Swiss watch industry, the brands of the Division and the Maison Bvlgari have decided to cancel their participation in the Fair in order to preserve their image and relations with customers and the media. They will therefore not take part in the 2021 edition of Baselworld. The four houses are evaluating different event formats to present their strategies and product innovations to their business partners and the international press in 2021. The LVMH Watches Division on the one hand and Bvlgari on the other will comment on their future plans in the coming weeks, based on their respective objectives”.
We are very sorry to have to abandon this more than centennial event, to which our Maison were faithful. However, it is clear that, in these conditions, we must react quickly and develop other strategies. We have the opportunity to reinvent the format and content of one of the key moments of our watch year, which represented a great commercial challenge and a strategic lever for the influence of our brands. In this perspective, we will make every effort to be present with the other prestigious Maison that will meet in Geneva in April 2021, to meet the needs of our partners and customers and offer them a unique experience.
Stéphane Bianchi, CEO of the LVMH Watches Division
In short, the pillars of what was the largest fair dedicated to jewelry and watchmaking crumble. At the moment, it is difficult to think of a Baselworld devoid of its brands that attracted thousands of visitors and buyers from all over the world. Now the watch business is focused on Geneva. What about jewelry? Will the trend of hand brands follow?
Bringing the entire Swiss watch industry together in one place, Geneva, the historical watchmaking capital and in a single date, is a great opportunity to finally relaunch a sector weakened by too many divisions and divergent interests compared to the rest of the luxury sector of in which Bvlgari is the protagonist and which progresses much more rapidly. We can’t wait to go to Geneva in April 2021, although we have yet to define the modalities of our participation, which we will specify in the coming weeks. We are also pleased not to
having to compensate, as in 2020, for the absence of institutional watch fairs, which this year forced us to take useful initiatives in the short term but not strategic in the medium term.
Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of the Bvlgari Group
