London over Basel? A thought-provoking British journalist makes a surprising suggestion

Watch Journalist Yasuhito Shibuya's Useful Watch Industry Chat

On June 23, 2021 (local time), the Baselworld Secretariat suddenly announced that Baselworld would be "returned" in 2022. However, as the dates of the event overlap completely with "Watches & Wonders Geneva 2022," many people involved are still skeptical of the event. Meanwhile, an interesting column about Baselworld was published on the overseas watch specialty website "WATCHPRO." Journalist Yasuhito Shibuya delves into the column.

A unique proposal (!?) from an overseas watch specialty website causes a stir

　Occasionally, overseas websites carry interesting content and columns about watches that are rarely found in Japan. One such example is the content on the so-called "Rolex conspiracy theory" on the American website Yahoo! Finance, which I introduced in a recent article in this series, "Rethinking Rolex, the World's Most Unfortunate Watch Brand."

Rethinking Rolex, the world's most "unfortunate" watch brand

http://www.webchronos.net/features/70429/

　And for someone like me who works in the watch industry, overseas watch specialty websites are something to keep an eye on. WATCHPRO, which we will be looking at this time, is one such website. It is a website for watch professionals, based in the UK, and acts as a "watch industry newspaper." While it is centered around the UK, it also features a variety of articles, including not only new watches but also the state of the UK watch industry and interviews with top watch industry figures.

　On October 20th, this website published an interesting column that you would never see on a Japanese watch website. The title was "London preferred to Basel for a global spring watch fair." The content of this column was quite stimulating and interesting, so I would like to introduce it to you today.

　This column was written by Rob Corder, editor-in-chief of WATCHPRO, and the topic of the column is Baselworld, which will be returning in 2022.

　Some brands have already announced their participation, but the road ahead is fraught with difficulties, and the success or failure of their plans remains a question mark. This column provides a good understanding of the circumstances and situation surrounding this, and how foreign journalists view the "revival of Baselworld." For those who don't want to bother reading it in English, we've provided a summary below.

A quiet antithesis to Baselworld?

　The column begins by introducing the results of an online poll conducted by watch enthusiasts and watch industry executives on his LinkedIn (a social networking service for business people) field.

　The theme of the poll was "Which is the best candidate city to hold a large-scale watch fair in the spring of 2022?" 118 of Corder's followers voted. The results showed that London came in first, beating out Basel, New York, and Dubai. Please see "WATCHPRO" for more details. Incidentally, Corder has 7500 followers on LinkedIn.

　Corder then stated his long-held opinion that "if a watch fair is to be held in Basel, the venue should be in the historic old town," before finally getting to the main topic.

"I'm ready to support Baselworld," he said, and then, based on the results of the vote, suggested, "If it can't be held, why not hold a watch fair in London following Geneva for the other brands that can't exhibit at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2022?"

　Along with this "proposal," Corder quietly explodes, in just a few lines and with typical British sarcasm, his quiet anger at the "special hospitality" that has been shown to fair visitors for many years not only by the Baselworld secretariat but also by the city of Basel and the hotels in the surrounding area.

I hope that staff at watch brands who have been attending Baselworld for many years, as well as buyers at department stores and watch shops, will read this section and laugh.

After Geneva, London?

"After Watches & Wonders in Geneva, we'll have a watch fair in London!" This suggestion could be taken as either serious or a joke.

　Although there are no watch brand factories in the UK, the UK has a watchmaking tradition that rivals that of Switzerland. The UK is home to historical facilities such as the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, which are essential for telling the history of watches, and the British Museum's watch collection is also excellent. By plane, there is not much difference in travel time between Geneva and Basel and Geneva and London.

The possibility of "London over Basel" may not be completely zero. But even so, what a challenging survey. The fact that they would conduct a vote like this is very British and amusing.

　Finally, Corder adds something significant: "There are rumors that a major announcement will be made by the Baselworld Secretariat soon." However, there is no description of what that announcement will be, and as of October 28, 2021, when this column is being written, there has yet to be any "major announcement" from the Baselworld Secretariat.

　If there is a major announcement as rumored, it will likely involve a change in the dates, or postponement or cancellation... In any case, there is no doubt that Baselworld's "road to recovery" will be a "road of thorns."

　So, what do all of you in the watch industry who have been to Basel think about this column? What are your current opinions and thoughts about Baselworld and the watch fair?

　If possible, I would love to use Zoom or something similar to meet at the end of the year to hear from people in the watch industry about their thoughts on watch fairs and this column, as I'm sure there are watch dealers, buyers, and others with different experiences and thoughts than I do.