What was once the mecca of watch fairs, is now looking at an entire revamp

A retailer invited by The Swatch Group to its very own exhibition forwarded his invitation to Reuters, that broke the story. This exhibition will run from March 19 to 26 next year and in Zurich instead of Basel. The rumours have been floating around that the Group would be hosting its own fair of sorts after having left the Baselworld stable earlier this year, but few thought it would host such competitive dates.

The Baselworld fair will be held from March 21 to 26, overlapping the Swatch Group’s.

Swatch Group, which announced its exit from Baselworld earlier this year, sent an invitation featuring the words “Time to Move”, the March 2019 dates, a drawing depicting the city of Zurich and the names of Swatch Group’s more expensive brands Breguet, Harry Winston, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz, Glashuette Original and Omega. – Reuters

What’s important to note is that as of yet, journalists have not been invited and the Swatch Group has yet to respond to Reuters’ queries. This could mean that the “Time to Move” exhibition would be centred around retailers only, with each brand showcasing its pieces to media later.

Retailers will not be seeing Swatch Group brands like Breguet at Baselworld

With the earlier announcement of the consecutive showing of SIHH and Baselworld come 2020, it would seem that the industry is on the brink of an entire calendar revamp.

Full story on Reuters here.