PEAKLIFE

LVMH Group has become the latest player to exit from Baselworld taking alone TAG Heuer, Hublot, Bulgari and Zenith.

LVMH Group has announced all four of its watch brands, Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Hublot, and Zenith, will exit from the 2021 Baselworld. The announcement follows after Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chopard, Tudor, and Chanel will not participate in the show in favour of creating a new event in Geneva in April 2021.

According to Stéphane Bianchi, CEO, LVMH Watchmaking Division, “We are sorry to have to leave this over 100-year-old Baselworld event to which our Maisons have been consistently loyal. It is nonetheless clear that we must respond quickly and make other arrangements.”

Bianchi added, “We are facing an 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 of influence for our brands. With this in mind, we will do our utmost to be present alongside the other prestigious Maisons that will gather in Geneva in April 2021, and thereby meet the requirements of our partners and clients while offering them an unrivaled experience.”

Photo: Courtesy of Bvlgari

Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO Bvlgari Group said, “Grouping the entire Swiss watch industry in a single location, Geneva – the historical capital of watchmaking – and around a single date, is a major opportunity to at last revive a sector that all too many divisions and divergent interests have weakened compared to the rest of the luxury sector in which Bvlgari is active and that is making much faster progress.”

Babin added, “We are looking forward to going to Geneva in April 2021, even though we still need to define the terms of our participation, which we will specify in the coming weeks. We are also delighted not to have to make up for the lack of institutional watch shows, which in 2020 forced us to take tactical initiatives that were necessary in the short term but undesirable in the medium term.”

Only a few top watch companies remain in the prestigious Hall 1 of Baselworld, including Graff, Bell & Ross and Carl F. Bucherer.