The LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) Group's watch fair was held in Dubai for three days starting on January 13, 2020. It was titled "LVMH Watch Week Dubai 2020." The event was held at the Bvlgari Hotel & Resort Dubai, and according to official announcements, a total of 400 people attended, including 200 media representatives and 200 retailers.
LVMH Watch Week Dubai 2020
At the time of the event, Bvlgari Group CEO Jean-Christophe Babin stated, "Baselworld's timing at the end of April was poor," and that future events would be held in January. "Bvlgari has hotels and resorts around the world. Using their facilities would help keep hosting costs down." Bvlgari subsequently canceled its participation in Baselworld 2020, as reported by webChronos.
Three brands participated: Bulgari, Hublot, and Zenith
The three brands participating in the event were Bulgari, Hublot, and Zenith. Tag Heuer, which had initially planned to participate, suddenly withdrew (although it did announce one model for retailers). The reason is unknown, but an LVMH insider speculated that "Tag Heuer will be focusing on smartwatches in the first half of the year, so it didn't fit with the purpose of the event." Louis Vuitton, whose Tambour watches are selling well, also did not participate in LVMH Watch Week Dubai, just like Baselworld. This is likely because they are developing their watch business solely through boutiques. There seems to be little benefit for Louis Vuitton to participate in this event, which is strongly geared towards retailers.
Every year, Bvlgari releases mainly women's models at Geneva Week in January. LVMH Watch Week Dubai 2020 followed the same trend, with not only Bvlgari but also Hublot and Zenith announcing new women's models. While there weren't as many men's models compared to women's, all three companies heavily promoted bracelets. Each company likely wants to jump on the recent "sporty watch" trend.
Antoine Pin, the new head of Bulgari's watch division, said, "When you consider sustainability, it may be natural that bracelets will become more popular." Going forward, not just these three companies, but all LVMH Group companies will likely work on adopting bracelets. Speaking from my experience, the bracelets of the three companies were well-adjusted for play and twist, despite my limited experience. The balance between the head and tail was also good.
