Baselworld 2017 | Highlights at the world trade fair for luxury watches and jewelry

The 100th Baselworld luxury watch and jewelry fair took place from March 23 to 30 this year. Since 1917, this fair has been the trend-setting event for luxury watch manufacturers and designers who want to inspire with renowned names and luxurious products and reach customers all over the world. Numerous exhibitors and visitors found their way to the fair and were enchanted by the latest collections and creations, trends and innovations in the luxury segment. The core message of the world fair was clear and showed that smartwatches with analogue displays are hip and visionary. Mechanical luxury watches are a thing of the past, without buyers having to forego the preferred design of an analogue watch. Manufacturers such as Rolex , Omega and Tag Heuer or Hublot and Breitling presented their watch trends and were pleased with the lively response.

Attention to detail pays off

It is the small details that attract attention and set trends. It was very clear that smartwatch technology is gaining ground and replacing mechanical watch movements. In purely visual terms, the manufacturers' reorientation has not influenced the popular models from Rolex or Breitling. The trend is still focused on analogue displays for men's and women's watches. Retro design combined with innovative details and visionary technology characterized the world's largest trade fair and is being taken up more than ever by luxury watch manufacturers. Currently, luxury watches are based on antique-looking chic, puristic designs and technologies that create a combination of innovation and tradition. Breitling and Rolex, Bell & Ross as well as Frederique Constant and Tag Heuer or Hublot are deliberately following this concept.

At first glance, many visitors were guided by the visual details and found little that pointed to the smartwatch technology. But a second look brought insights and showed what was hidden in the classic garb and how stylishly brand new and classic can be combined. Last year, 1,500 exhibitors were present in the exhibition halls. This year, for example, Versace and Salvatore Ferragamo canceled their participation. In total, 200 fewer exhibitors came, but that didn't make the world trade fair any less interesting or varied.

There were many new and up-and-coming designers who appeared at Baselworld 2017 for the first time and presented their luxury watches to a wide-ranging target audience. In the past, Basel's prestigious hall was reserved exclusively for renowned designers. This year, Armin Strom, Moritz Grossmann and Tutima from Glashütte were also to be found in the legendary Hall 1. Nomos was less lucky in terms of stand allocation, which was certainly not due to the brand's completely new concept; luxury watches for high school graduates and students dominate the range and are available for a purchase price of around 1,000 euros including engraving.

Luxury watches | Time measurement at a high level

The manufacturer Breitling presented a special highlight. It used the World Watch and Jewelry Fair to usher in a new era for chronographs with the Navitimer Rattrapante. It is therefore not surprising that the luxury brand's stand was extremely crowded and crowded. This model features a completely newly designed split-seconds mechanism with a new, patented decoupling mechanism. Buyers pay around 9,990 euros for the stainless steel model and a whopping 26,170 euros for the solid red gold version. Luxury is a top priority here and Breitling shows once again which factors determine timekeeping today and what is important at a higher level.

But Rolex also had a real design and innovation highlight in its portfolio with the Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller . This was a new edition of the diving watch first produced 50 years ago, which now impresses with a case enlarged to 43 millimeters.

The "Superlative Chronometer" certification is no coincidence and is a quality feature that the luxury watch manufacturer focuses on in all of its models. Here, too, it is clear that technology does not have to bring about groundbreaking visual changes and that it has to distance itself from the tried and tested and popular. Analogue displays have proven to be a trend for most manufacturers and, as was shown at Baselworld 2017, are also shaping watch fashion this year.

New exhibitors and many anniversaries

An unusual guest was the Korean technology group Samsung, which attended Baselworld for the first time in 2017 and presented three concepts. It is known that Samsung has its concepts created by luxury watch designer Yvan Arpa from Switzerland and wants to secure a place in the luxury watch segment. Long-established classic luxury watch brands were hardly impressed by this and celebrated their own anniversaries and product launches at Baselworld. The world trade fair itself turned 100 years old and thus represents a watchmaking event that has established itself without reservation among its target group.

The Swiss brand Omega, which has held an important position in the luxury watch sector for 60 years now, also celebrated its birthday. Tradition and innovation have been combined, as was hard to miss in all three models presented with their retro design. The luxury watch market leader Rolex also used the trade fair to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a completely redesigned professional diving watch, the Sea-Dweller.

At Baselworld 2017, as every year, it was all about seeing, discovering and being seen. More and more young designers are using the world trade fair to present their luxury watches to a broad target group and establish themselves on the market. What has proven itself does not need updating. This applies not only to the designs of luxury watches, but also to the trade fair and its location. Numerous visitors flocked to Basel during the trade fair period and gained an overview of the new trends and groundbreaking highlights in luxury watches.

Luxury and Glamour | Superlative Watches and Jewelry

With the numerous new releases in the luxury watch segment, jewelry played an almost subordinate role. Nevertheless, many designers used the fair to present their new collections. Red gold was particularly on display and is enjoying great popularity this year. It is striking that jewelry and luxury watches with a design match are equally appealing to men and women. Red gold has also established itself in watches and underlines the retro charm that characterizes the new collections from Rolex, Omega and Breitling. Alternatively, stainless steel is a timeless trend for both luxury watches and jewelry, combining robust properties with visual features.

The jewelry manufacturers and luxury watch labels present did not miss a moment to celebrate themselves and the presentation of their new collections. As expected, the trade fair set trends again this year and had a lasting influence on the orientation of buyers and prospective buyers. The trend is clearly towards watches that have an analogue display and still offer the advantages of smart technology. It is clear that tried and tested design is holding its own and that retro luxury watches are therefore the focus of the target group. In addition to renowned brands, however, more and more newcomers are also positioning themselves.

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