THE SWATCH GROUP BUDGETS AROUND USD 50 MILLION TO BRING THEIR 18 BRANDS TO BASELWORLD EVERY YEAR

like Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille and Bulgari all aim to reduce the number of multi-brand POS, while Breitling has been experimenting with more targeted exhibitions in different regions around the world with the Breitling Summit.

Even though Baselworld opened its gates to the public, the show still operated largely on a B2B model. Even though each of the booths had exhibition areas for the novelties, there was very little in terms of information within those spaces and sometimes rarer pieces would even go missing for a presentation to retailers or journalists. And unless you had an appointment with the brand, there was no way for the public to get better acquainted with these new watches. On top of that, during Baselworld, the full effect of demand-supply economics can be felt.