A showcase for many of the world’s oldest watch and jewellery brands, Baselworld became century old itself in 2017. Under the challenging market conditions, the show marked a continued decline in attendance. A good number of the exhibitors Hong Kong Jewellery interviewed during the eight-day show, however, fared quite well and gave a definite “yes” to joining the downsizing fair next year. Despite all that lacklustre, Baselworld still retains its glamour as the trailblazer in setting the watch and jewellery trends for the coming year.
The show welcomed 106,000 buyers from over 100 countries and regions, a four-percent down year-on-year, according to show organiser MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd. The number of journalists stood at 4,400 which was the same as 2016. The largest drop was in exhibitors, down from 1,500 to 1,300, a 13.3-percent year-on-year.
“Few brands were missing this year at Baselworld, but they were mostly watchmakers. Jewellery brands are less impacted by the crisis,” said Hannah Vartoukian of Messika. The Paris-based jeweller had a booth three times bigger than last year, with a room dedicated to the high jewellery collection Paris est une Fête. She said the buying sentiment was encouraging, with Move continued to be the bestselling collection. Thanks to the better location this year, Messika had a lot of traffic and met new customers from Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Italy. For 2017-18, the brand will further expand the US market.
Baselworld serves as the best time for Fope to meet its business partners, said Valentina Bertoldo, marketing manager of the Italian jewellery brand. As the company planned early for the fair, the show turned out to be “very busy and also very successful”. “We keep working hard, differentiating our efforts in more than 50 countries and regions. Above all we keep innovating and launching new yet very consistent collections,” Bertoldo told Hong Kong Jewellery about the winning strategy. Besides jewellery, the brand will launch the LadyFope watches in mid-May in selected stores.
“The show was very good for us despite the general low traffic,” said Francesca Lovato, marketing manager of Nanis. Apart from the change of corporate colour to a warmer and more natural tone, the jewellery brand from Italy attributed its success at Baselworld 2017 to the well-planned strategy including focusing on real opportunities and pushing through digital channels. Currently the brand is available in over 40 countries and regions, while tapping new opportunities especially in mainland China and other Asian markets.
Geneva-based Charriol received more visitors compared to the past few years, said Alice So, business manager of Philippe Charriol (Far East) Ltd. Among the bestselling watch collections was Lady St-Tropez ‘Mansart’, while Infinity Zen, Pont d’Amour and Forever bangles were the most sought-after jewellery lines. The Swiss brand is striving for a more powerful digital business platform in a bid to survive the persisting market downturn, according to So. In view of the fruitful show for the brand, however, she has a feeling that “the worst moment should have passed”.
Specialised in big gemstones in unusual colours, Paris-based Maison Piat offered unheated sapphires, rubies and non-resinous emeralds at Baselworld 2017. Émilie de Poncheville of the gemstone supplier said the show was a bit quiet, but all the major customers had shown up as scheduled. New contacts were also made during the show, with most of them from Europe, and some from Russia and Asia. To survive the critical environment, Poncheville said the company will focus on corporate social responsibility and new technology such as automatic cutting.
Alexandra Pritoula of Dubai-based Votive Jewellery said the new location of the bigger booth successfully attracted more attention although the fair was quiet and the buying sentiment was weak. Still, the brand managed to make some new contacts with the US and European buyers. While adapting to the new needs of customers in economic downturn, the marketing director said the company will not compromise on design, quality and style. She believes that Baselworld will remain an important jewellery and watch exhibition as many companies prefer to exhibit only there. “We expect improvement starting the fourth quarter of 2017,” she anticipates.
For the German pearl and jewellery brand Gellner GmbH & Co KG, the Basel fair was quiet in general, but they are satisfied with the order volumes. Product diversification is the way to go for the company to stay competitive when facing lingering challenges. Marija Stojanovic, head of marketing, told Hong Kong Jewellery that the company has acquired German jewellery brand Michael Weggenmann and broadened the portfolio to pearl and fancy-coloured diamond jewellery. “Our success at Baselworld proved that we took the right decision.” Austria, Switzerland, the United States and Russia are among Gellner’s most active export markets.
In its 100th year of service, Baselworld created ‘Design Lab’ in Hall 1.1, a novel platform for renowned jewellery designers and ambitious young brands including Monomer, Germany. Meaning “single piece” in Greek, Monomer produces unique jewellery with a special combination of different technologies such as 3D. The new design approach evoked interest among buyers and the press. “We got a lot of enquiries mainly from Switzerland and neighbouring countries. We also have some from Russia, China, the United States, Japan, the Middle East, etc,” said Thomas Mrokon, managing director. Currently they are seeking distributors in the States, Russia and mainland China.
Founded in 2015, Geneva-based Gvchiani was new to the Baselworld. CEO Shant Ghouchian told Hong Kong Jewellery that the show was “super” because a lot of distributors were interested in the Big Square titanium watch collection. Besides watches, the brand also introduced two well-received jewellery collections, Lori and Nairi, at the fair. Ghouchian expressed his interest in venturing into the mainland China market.
“Baselworld 2017 was indeed a blast for Andre Mouche,” said Didier Peter, owner and CEO of the Swiss watchmaker who owed the success to the craftsmanship and individual touch of the hand-made watches, as well as the prime location of the booth. The Aria Rose model in gold was one of the highlights at the fair where newly acquired contacts were many from about 30 countries and regions across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and America. “Our own products are always the weapon to fight against the industry’s challenges…We are very confident about our business. Our sales increased in the first quarter of 2017,” he said.
QLOCKTWO/Biegert & Funk found itself at ‘Les Ateliers’, a new pavilion designed for independent watchmakers in Hall 1.2. The brand presented a unique display of time in words with a matrix of 110 characters arranged in a square. Vintage Copper moved particularly well at the fair, said Mariella Marte of the brand. “We were satisfied with the attention the visitors paid to us. We had a lot of traffic and good sales figures. We reckoned that less private visitors attended the fair. Although it was really less retailers from mainland China and Hong Kong, we believe that the market will recover,” she told Hong Kong Jewellery.
The next Baselworld is scheduled for 22-27 March 2018.
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