Following the announcement from Rolex, Tudor, Patek Philippe, Chanel and Chopard, the LVMH Watch Division (TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith) and Maison Bulgari, have decided to not take part in the 2021 edition of Baselworld.
The four companies are studying different event formats to meet the need to present their strategic axes and new products to their business partners and the international press, next year. The LVMH Watchmaking Division and Bulgari will decide on their projects in the coming weeks, according to their respective objectives.
Stéphane Bianchi, CEO of the Watch Division of LVMH:
“We are sorry to have to leave this meeting, more than a century old, of Baselworld and to which our Houses were loyal. It is nonetheless obvious, under these conditions, that we must react quickly and take other measures. We have before us the opportunity to reinvent the format and content of one of the key moments of our watchmaking year, which represented both a major commercial challenge and a lever for influence for our brands. In this perspective, we will make every effort to be present with the other prestigious Houses which will meet in Geneva in April 2021, and thus meet the requirements of our partners and customers and offer them an unrivaled experience.”
Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of the Bulgari Group:
“The regrouping of the entire Swiss watch industry in one place, Geneva, the historic capital of watchmaking, and a single date, is a major opportunity to finally revive a sector that too many divisions and diverging interests have ended up weaken compared to the rest of the luxury in which Bvlgari is protagonist and progresses there much more quickly. We are looking forward to going to Geneva in April 2021, although we still have to define the modalities of our participation, which we will specify in the coming weeks. We are also delighted not to have to make up for, as in 2020, the absence of institutional watch fairs, which forced us in 2020 to take tactical initiatives necessary in the short term but undesirable in the medium term.”