After two years of uncertainty whether Breitling would continue at Baselworld or not, the Swiss luxury watch brand has finally opted to leave Baselworld as of next year. Breitling now in the reigns of Georges Kern —former CEO for Richemont’s IWC—, has decided that is better to showcase in its own format for 2020. In the words of Michel Loris-Melikoff —Managing Director of Baselworld—: “We very much regret that Breitling will not be exhibiting at Baselworld 2020. However, there have been very constructive and cooperative discussions with the watch manufacturer in recent weeks.” In 2020, Breitling will be relying on its previously launched Summit platform to which dealers, the media and collectors will be invited. Meanwhile, the ties between Rolex and Baselworld get stronger as Rolex’s sister brand Tudor, will have its own stand-alone booth in Hall 1.0 while Rolex will expand its booth accordingly to also include the previous Tudor area.
“The path Breitling is taking to present the brand as an experience is perfectly in line with our strategy of transforming Baselworld into an experience platform,” said Loris-Melikoff. “That’s why we jointly strove to integrate the Summit into Baselworld. In the end, no agreement was reached because the end of April date set for Baselworld 2020 —from April 30th to May 5th– was too late for Breitling.”
Towards the end of last year, Baselworld announced that it had succeeded in synchronizing the dates for the next edition with the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Genève.
Georges Kern —CEO of Breitling—, underlines that Baselworld 2019 was a very successful show for the brand. “Nevertheless, we decided to focus on our global Summit format in 2020 and the subsequent local roadshows. The decisive factor is first and foremost the new Baselworld date at the end of April, which cannot be reconciled with our planning.” He emphasizes that the extensive innovations developed and implemented by Baselworld management under Michel Loris-Melikoff in a very short space of time have provided positive impetus and can form a basis for reorienting Baselworld for the future. “We will decide at a later date whether to return to Basel in 2021,” says the CEO of Breitling.
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