The division began in 1993. Several brands, primarily Cartier, decided to ditch Baselworld and organise the luxurious SIHH in Geneva.

When I went to Baselword and SIHH for the first time in the late 1990s, I was surprised to see two important trade shows taking place at the same time in little Switzerland. That’s when I heard the famous comment of Alain-Dominique Perrin, the then head of Cartier, who, when asked why his brand was not participating in Baselworld, said that Cartier’s customers did not like the smell of grilled sausages in Basel. This was, of course, a metaphor that alluded to the clear division between ‘ordinary’ brands and those classified as ‘haute horlogerie’. It’s rather strange considering the fact that for many years, Baselworld featured brands that even Alain-Dominique Perrin must have considered worthy of the name ‘haute horlogerie’. But this statement, and especially the division between the two worlds: noble, French luxury versus the simple Swiss craftsmen, remained in the minds of trade show visitors. Before this, no one had spoken out loud about any kind of split, so it seemed that the watch industry was one family and, as is usually the case in a family, one cousin is doing better, while the other is always just trying to stay afloat.

This story came to mind during my stay in Geneva in April. Watches and Wonders, the direct successor to SIHH, is now the most important event in Switzerland and in a sense has replaced Baselworld (although there is not as much diversity as there used to be in Basel). Only memories remain of the defunct Baselworld trade show. The event failed, but not because of the grilled sausages, but because of the arrogance of the management. Watches and Wonders, on the other hand, is growing in strength: a record number of 54 brands exhibited this year.

But the industry is even more fragmented today than it was when there were two major events.   Around the time of this year’s Watches and Wonders, the topic of trade shows came up again, because at the same time as Watches and Wonders, other events were taking place in Geneva. There was Time to Watches, which brings together niche brands, and in several hotels in the city centre there were watch shows featuring new models from between 250 and 300 brands. If we add to this Geneva Watch Days, which takes place at the end of summer, as well as other events outside Switzerland, such as Dubai Watch Week or the increasingly stronger Inhorgenta in Munich, we have a full picture of the fragmentation.

The brands belonging to the Swatch Group are the big absentees: after withdrawing from Baselworld, they don’t take part in any trade shows, although something has changed recently. It started with an interview that Jean-Frédéric Dufour gave to the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung shortly before the start of Watches and Wonders. Dufour said that he had visited Nick Hayek and his family to discuss Swatch Group joining Watches and Wonders, but was told that the company did not want to waste time on exhibitions.

Recently, however, it appears that Swatch Group is starting to soften its stance on the matter, as three of their brands: Blancpain, Breguet, and Glashütte Original are taking part in this year’s Geneva Watch Days. Nick Hayek said it was the decision of Marc Hayek, who is the CEO of Blancpain and the president of Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original and Jaquet Droz. This is good news not only for the organisers of Geneva Watch Days with 51 brands taking part this time, which is only three less than at Watches and Wonders. It confirms not only the increasingly strong position of this event, but also the increasing dispersion and distribution of forces.  According to a report prepared by LuxeConsult and Morgan Stanley, four brands dominate the Swiss watch industry: Rolex, Cartier, Omega and Patek Philippe, which together account for 50.2% of total sales. Moreover, over 90% of Swiss watch sales are accounted for by just 25 brands out of a total of around 350.

This is not good news for the industry because as we know, the greater the biodiversity, the better for everyone, so it would be good if the big ones could reach an agreement with the small ones. And let this place serve not only champagne, but also ‘grilled sausages’.