For those unfamiliar with the extraordinary event – Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show is a trade show of the international watch and jewellery industry, organized each spring in the city of Basel, Switzerland and open to the general public.
This years Baselworld is running March 27 to April 3, and as always, gets even better every year.
Baselworld brings together 1,460 exhibitors from 40 countries and 122,000 visitors from 100 countries.
Over the years, Baselworld has evolved into a superlative event. For the watchmaking and jewellery industry, Baselworld has become an indispensable platform for the latest products and innovations. The pavilions, which were specially designed for the event, are exceptionally elegant and convey to visitors the luxurious and perfectionist world of the watch and jewellery brands. For the media, too, Baselworld has become a key date in the calendar in recent decades. Baselworld is regularly attended by over 3,500 accredited journalists from almost every country in the world.
Baselworld is in turn expecting a trend towards lifestyle at its 2014 show. Over the last decade, watch and jewellery brands have become an important barometer for the lifestyle sector. Even fashion designers, industry designers and marketing experts from a highly diverse range of industries are increasingly finding inspiration at this superlative event. The pavilions and presentations are often designed and staged by world-famous architects. Celebrities from all over the world stroll through the exhibition’s over 30 kilometres of extensive walkways. As for what makes Baselworld so appealing, Sylvie Ritter, its Managing Director, summed it up by saying: “We have an outstanding product with the world’s most prominent brands under one roof.”
The president of the exhibitors’ committee, Jacques J. Duchêne, seems optimistic with regard to the future of the sector. “We are generally in a good position as an industry and have the forward-looking markets clearly in our sights,” he says. Baselworld is traditionally an important meeting point for the industry. Buyers of watches and jewellery, the most prominent brands and a perfectly developed infrastructure are all to be found in Basel. “And what’s more – nowhere else in the world will you find the most important watch brands, jewellery and precious stones under one roof,” adds Mr Duchêne.
One impressive Italian brand in particular is making an appearance at Baselworld, and gaining great attention and accolades.
Visconti has been synonymous with writing implements of unparalleled historical and technological sophistication for the past twenty-five years. Now, Visconti surges ahead in the watch business as well.
To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2013, Visconti took on board the human resources, the know-how and the traditional tools of Florentine watch-making to begin making its own luxury timepieces.
A new area has been set aside in Visconti’s historic Medici villa for the sole purpose of manufacturing top-of-the-range watches featuring the same creative and innovative vein that customers look for in all of the company’s products.
Less than six months after the launch of its first two models – “Solotempo” and “GMT” in its “Bridge Over Time” collection – Visconti has now decided to expand its offer with a professional diver’s watch, a chronograph and a show-piece in sapphire crystal with a Visconti calibre movement.
This is only the beginning, however, and Visconti is ready to give of their very best in producing increasingly interesting designs and timepieces.