The biggest and most important show for the watch and jewelery industry, BASELWORLD, has confirmed its leading position worldwide over the past few days. Coming from more than 100 countries, 104,300 specialist buyers streamed into the exhibition halls in Basel, and the 3320 accredited journalists marked a new record for the media presence at any time during the history of BASELWORLD.Major watch brands such as Patek Philippe also reported an outstanding level of business: “BASELWORLD offers us a privileged opportunity to welcome our partners. We registered an exceedingly positive mood amongst our customers throughout the entire show.
On the other hand Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Co-Chairman of Chopard, underlines the global importance of the event: “All our markets worldwide were well represented this year. In addition, the media presence was at a record level.”
Françoise Bezzola, Vice President Communication at TAG Heuer, notes: “BASELWORLD 2012 was an opportunity for us to introduce Cameron Diaz as a new brand ambassador. On the sales side, we were able to welcome a very large number of retailers, marking an increase of 30% over last year.
The CEO of FC watches mentioned at a launch of their new models in Basel that their sales have increased to 120,000 watches and most of the sales come from Western Europe, Far East, Middle East and the US.
A number of global brands launched their watch and jewelery collections in this year including Gevril, a luxury timepiece brand with a long history well known in the fine watch industry, unveiled the new “Columbus Circle” luxury watch collection. Columbus Circle, one of New York’s most prestigious neighbourhoods at the epicentre of Manhattan, is the inspiration behind this exciting new Gevril watch design. Like all precision Gevril timepieces, the production of the landmark Columbus Circle Collection will be strictly limited.
Blancpain once again presents an exclusive creation for Valentine’s Day. This limited series of 14 watches, each set with 2.95 carats of precious stones, offers a fresh take on the refined aesthetics of the Blancpain Women collection, while associating it with the technical subtlety of the fly back chronograph.
The future of watch industry seems to be fine and sales on luxury brands is on the increase despite the harsh economic realities in the US, Europe and around the world. Marketers of luxury brands must focus on targeting HNWI and people with disposable income rather than targeting all groups.
Saad Al-Saraf
CEO
Mediareach Star
www.mediareachstar.com