The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I have to say that, even with the rationale behind why many brands are leaving Baselworld (and SIHH) being completely understandable, I'm still a little sad to have no updates from the Swatch Group brands today. And I fear this is only going to get worse year on year, until the whole watch fair thing finally disappears.

As I say above, I completely get the reasons behind brands departing - increasing (and excessive) costs of exhibiting, and the rise of social media and other avenues to connect with consumers - but one downside is that you don't know when new watches are going to be released. (And that makes it much harder to budget! ) At least with Baselworld and SIHH you get to see all the forthcoming releases, essentially in one hit and you can plan ahead. Plus I like the whole "run up to Christmas" feeling when it's watch fair season!

Oh well, times change I guess.....

_________________
Driver8

Site Moderator

It was great seeing all the releases either at SIHH or Basel and it does kind of suck having new releases come out throughout the year. If I had a budget for something new this year, I'd be lost since who knows when the next great watch will come out. I can understand why companies are going about it this way for all the same reasons you mentioned. I'll admit though, it was almost like Christmas morning waking up on the opening day of Basel and scrolling through the pages of new releases.

_________________
Justin
Please contact me via PM for the contact details for Govberg Jewelers
Govberg is an AD for over 50 fine Swiss and German watch brands.
Visit them on the web at http://www.govbergwatches.com or call 800-528-8463

Exactly, I always had high hopes Baselworld and SIHH would be combined into one event, it now seems scheduling and planning are thrown out the window all together. This will make life allot harder for buyers.


I think wristwatch websites/blogs can compensate by doing a year in review special at a specific date, say December 31st, we can use that time to review and decide I suppose. Still does not sort the issue of being able to reserve the watch as soon as it comes out, which is a must in many cases.

_________________
Certified watch nut.

I agree with you, Driver -- I have always liked the "run up to Christmas" aspect of SIHH and Baselworld. I also like being able to see all of the new releases for the year in one feel swoop, which then allows you to make purchasing decisions with all the cards on the table.

On the plus side, though -- it's nice to know that we won't have to go an entire year before we see new models, so that should keep things interesting on a more regular basis.

_________________
Cheers,
Jim

I'm in this boat. My rule of thumb has always been to wait to buy a watch until after Basel. Now, who knows what I'll do especially since Fred tells us to hang tight for the remainder of the year to see all the Breitling updates. I guess it can't hurt (can't help either) to get on a Rolex "wait list" or two...

_________________
Current collection: Breitling Superocean Heritage I 46, Rolex Submariner, Swatch X ****** Sistem51

I'm in agreement here as well. I always looked forward to the watch fairs so I would know what I might want to target next. I don't have infinite funds unfortunately so I would hate to get something and then 2 weeks later a killer release comes out and I end up with some serious buyers remorse.

This was the first time in many years where I actually didn't even check up on the Basel stuff until today and today I just was catching up on Breitling. With the shrinking size it has just lost much of its luster.

And I get is as well why it is now just an unnecessary expense and an antiquated model, but from a watch fan perspective it was nice to always have that event to look forward to and be able to see all the releases at once.

wouldn't be so pessimistic regarding the "Christmas Spirit", though Christmas may come twice, not really a bad thing?

we will have a late Christmas in 2020 with SIHH&Baselworld in March - and there'll be tons of announcements then, hopefully of better quality (in general) than 2019.

Breitling will (most probably, assume there may be desperate attempt to change their mind) not be in Basel in 2020, but don't expect them to be too quiet during that period?

If you listen to Kern (and he's typically quite open about his plans), Breitling will try to learn from the Fashion industry, with Spring & Fall seasons, when novelties will be presented in "Summits", large high profile events to begin with, then a local roadshow to bring the novelties to all relevant world markets.

In addition to these two large seasonal events, there will be "Capsule" announcements to spice up the visibility. not a bad thing, I'd hope.

Would not be surprised if, in the long run, others will follow this strategy, so we'll have two "Fashion Week" seasons for watches, so looking forward to Christmas twice a year

Another major change announced is that will be no "vaporware" (wrong industry, I know) launches anymore, watches that you see as rough prototypes and then often wait for almost a year until they start shipping, sometimes being stuck with your firm orders when more attractive competition for your hard earned funds is announced.

Breitling will only (well, in most cases, we just saw the SuperOcean 48 that is an exception to this rule) announce watches that are either already in mass production or weeks away, shipments will start during the announcement quarter. The Navitimer 806 will start shipping late April or early May to international distribution, just as an example.

Not such an awful strategy, is it?

I do like the idea of seasonal releases, and if that means that "Watch Christmas" comes twice a year then that's fine by me.

That said, the traditionalist in me still likes the idea of Baselworld (and SIHH) when we get to see a huge number of new models all at once, but times change and brands need to adapt accordingly. It feels like we're very much in a transition time at the moment, so I'm sure it'll all work out over the next couple of years (unless you run Baselworld of course! )

As an aside I'll be interested to see if Rolex changes it's approach to something similar. Considering that this year they actually only released ONE genuinely new watch (the YM42), they may have to pull their finger out to produce TWO new watches a year!

_________________
Driver8

Site Moderator

I’m newer to the watch collecting world, so don’t have the same emotional tie to the trade shows.

That being said, I actually liked how Breitling did it’s traveling road show when they released the Premier line and think that’s the future for watch announcements.

a 23-minute interview w/ Georges Kern about Baselworld & strategy on CNN Money

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll2g3PG ... e=youtu.be

I haven't posted on here in years let alone keep up with watch trends...

It's nice to still see some familiar names most notable Driver 8, Altair, & jnelson3097 just to name a few....

I too, always waited to buy a watch until after Basel, it felt like you good folks said "Christmas" all over again...

And going to Basel/SIHH was always on my bucket list...guess that won't happen now...(and I totally get, why it won't happen) lmao

It's a New World My Friends!!!

However, I have learned to just buy the classics they are timeless (no pun intended) and they will always be worth something and for that you don't really need the flashy shows either (maybe I am just getting old)...


Cheers All,

Enezdez

_________________
IWC - Big Pilot 5002 - 01
IWC - Pilot Chrono 3717 - 04
Panerai - 183
Omega - Speedmaster 145.012 / 67
Rolex - Explore II (Black Dial) - 216570
Rolex - Explore I 114270
Blancpain FF 5015