The 100th edition of one of the premier global watch and jewellery trade shows, Baselworld 2017, opens today in Basel, Switzerland and will run through to March 30, representatives of the organisers and the exhibitors said while addressing the inaugural press conference yesterday.

Speaking at the event, Sylvie Ritter, Managing Director Baselworld, presented a short review of some of the major milestones along the show’s development path aand said that this year was a celebration of a century of “Baselworld being an essential date in the industry’s calendar and thateach new edition iseagerly anticipated, often with great impatience”.

Stating that a key aspect of the show’s success was its ability to “reinvent, renew, adapt, modernise and continuously transform”, while “constantly reflecting an ever-changing market,” she assured the trade that this process of transformation will always have “to favour quality over quantity”.

She concluded by saying that due to new adaptations in the format, independent watchmakers were now allowed to participate at the new ‘Les Ateliers’ in Hall 1, which also housed another novelty called the ‘Design Lab’, dedicated to designers, mainly in jewellery, “featuring unique innovative pieces and avant-garde creations”.

René Kamm, CEO of the MCH Group, the organisers, said that “Baselworld has undoubtedly contributed significantly to our group’s success and global standing”.

Eric Bertrand, President of the Exhibitors’ Committee said that the current economic and geopolitical situation offers “an opportunity for those who have done their job properly in recent years and who have a solid foundation on the market.”

François Thiébaud, President of the Swiss Exhibitors’ Committee, said that the global political and economic context remained difficult, but whereas only 29 Swiss brands exhibited at the first show in 1917, in 2017 over 220 would be participating.

Pic Caption: The inaugural Press Conference at Baselworld 2017
Courtesy: Baselworld