In an interview given to Swiss business newspaper Handelszeitung, outgoing head of LVMH's watch division Jean-Claude Biver, confirms that the LVMH watch brands Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith, won't leave thr troubled annual watch fair in 2019.

A commitment for the time after 2019 however depends on successful negotiations between the fair committee and the watch brands. As key issues Biver cites the date of the fair (it should be moved futher ahead), the admission prices for the exhibtiors be lowered, and this should include the hoteliers as well - as many of the journalists and watch collectors know very well, the prices for accomodation and food skyrocket in Basel during the exhibition time.

Taking a personal view, I find it encouraging to see that the industry is putting pressure on the staid fair management and are demanding change in the right direction. For us watch enthusiasts, a more accessible fair offering more hands-on exposure to the watches would be very much welcome. It would also be a nice opportunity to communicate more, more direct, with the potential customers on the intricacies of fine watchmaking. Done right, I think that fair like Baselworld are not an increasingly obsolete thing of the past.

Whatever the outcome, at least for spring 2019 this here will be a familiar sight:

Kind regards,

Magnus