BY DHANANJAY PATHAK
The watch industry is going through a transformation, especially with regard to the way products are being marketed. To keep costs in check several brands have either opted for alternate ways to promote their products, leaving the fate of major events such as SIHH and Baselworld in Jeopardy. Most recently we brought you news about Casio’s departure from Baselworld 2020 and now Greubel Forsey has announced that it would not be participating in Watches and Wonders (Formerly SIHH) 2020 onwards.
When asked for a reason, officials at Greubel Forsey responded saying that the model of a large-scale salon-like Watches and Wonder is no longer in keeping with the evolution of their brand in global markets making them move out. To showcase their future releases the brand would continue with its customized way of communication that was initiated this autumn in the form of the Greubel Forsey World Tour. Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, the founders of Greubel Forsey have thanked Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, the organizers of Watches and Wonders for their support over the years.
With the likes of Greubel Forsey, Audemars Piguet, Breitling, Swatch Group and many more deciding to go their own way, it’s time for glitzy events such as Watches and Wonders and Baselworld to pull up their socks and take some drastic measures to make their existence worthwhile. Some noteworthy changes have already been thought about and we would witness the same during the upcoming events in 2020. For instance, to ensure maximum attendance at next year’s shows the management at Watches and Wonder and Baselworld made a joint decision to host the two grand events would be held in quick succession instead of being separated by a few months. So, in 2020 Watches and Wonder would be held between April 26 and April 29, followed by Baselworld from April 30 to May 5. This would ease out travel plans for both the audience and the press as they would now need to fly only once instead of twice.
To conclude we would like to wish Greubel Forsey good luck for their future endeavors and we also hope for Baselworld and Watches and Wonder to make a strong comeback.
