bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jacqueline Tsang

Despite a lower  buyer-turnout compared with last year's record-breaking figures, exhibitors at BaselWorld 2009 put on a brave face amid economic woes and set out to prove that there is still a place for luxury watches in today's troubled world.
Widely acknowledged as the industry's most important event of the year, BaselWorld 2009 received 93,900 visitors,  a slight drop compared with last year's record 106,800. 
Exhibitors put on a good show, numbering 1,952 from 45 countries.  
As confidence in the United States market wanes, watchmakers have started to take steps towards solidifying their position  in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets, with some industry players still hanging on to the Japanese market despite the country's financial troubles. There was less interest in the Russian market compared with last year, while there was more talk of emerging markets in South Korea and Australia.
Some brands achieved growth during the past year. Luc Perramond,  managing director of La Montre Herm?s,  said the brand's  sales last year grew by more than 10 per cent compared with the previous year. 
Even in the last quarter of 2008, the brand saw growth in the US market, Mr Perramond added.
'The House of Herm?s is very resilient - our sales to date are up 5 per cent compared with the end of February last year,' he said. 'We have very strong assets to weather this crisis and we are not planning on changing our business strategy.'
Most watchmakers are looking to break into the mainland market, with some even designing their collections according to what they believe will sell well there. 
Movado, for example, saw the mainland as a key future market,  said Fabrice Poch,  president of Movado (Asia),  adding that the brand's Red Label collection was developed specifically for the Chinese market. 
At the same time, many watchmakers have cast their eyes on Hong Kong, not just as a convenient gateway to the mainland but as a strong market in its own right. As the world's largest market for Swiss watches, with the mainland being second, Hong Kong imported US$2.58 billion worth of Swiss timepieces  last year. 
Tourists from the mainland made up 57 per cent of Hong Kong's 28 million visitor arrivals  last year and are  believed to be a significant factor contributing to the growth. 
Apple Yuen,  sales and marketing manager at Chopard Trading (Shanghai), said mainlanders made up 70 per cent of the brand's consumer demographic in Hong Kong, while only 30 per cent consisted of locals  and international consumers, mainly  from Singapore and Australia. 
The city also has the distinction of being the world's second largest exporter of watches in sales and quantity. Overall, demand for Hong Kong watches increased by 11 per cent last year,  and exports to the European Union, the largest sales market, increased by 7 per cent. 
Alan Lau Yuk-lun, managing director of Patek Philippe (HK and Macau),  said  Hong Kong consumers had become increasingly knowledgeable in recent years. 
'Hong Kong has a very mature market in that consumers are in tune with watchmaking history,' he said. 
'They are sophisticated enough to appreciate the movements and the subtleties.'
Clerc president G?rald Clerc  said the strength of Hong Kong consumers laid in their open-mindedness and appreciation for watches that were  different in structure and design.  
At a time when consumers need a very good reason to part with millions for a luxury watch,  innovations and skilled craftsmanship are essential. 
'Creativity is our driving force - creativity in terms of design, choice of materials, movements, features and even case structure,' Mr Clerc said. 
'People are coming back to products with integrity and intrinsic value that make it worth the investment.'
These were sentiments echoed across the board during the fair, with watchmakers stressing the importance of viewing their products as long-lasting investments that will   increase in value over time.
Mr Perramond said: 'This year marks a huge change in consumer behaviour. 
'People don't want bling-bling  any more, they want value. Consumers are going back to brands that have history, craftsmanship, substance and quality.'
Some watchmakers believe that setting the bar so high is not  a bad thing, particularly at a time when the market is flooded with new brands all wanting a piece of the multibillion-dollar pie. 
Mr Poch compared the phenomenon to Darwinism. 'With the number of brands saturating the market, you really need an identity, a brand DNA, to stand out,' he said. 'In this way, the saturation is a good thing in that it acts as a clean up of brands, old or new, that are not performing at the top of their game. It forces competition and enables the survival of the fittest.'
This rings particularly true in a year where most brands took the conservative road. 
Technical innovations and new collections were few and far between, with most brands opting to add extensions to existing collections instead of playing around with different designs and mechanisms.
Leonard chief executive Alexandre Reymond  predicted last year that big watches would continue to be popular, but that women would begin to wear smaller watches, particularly in the evening. This prediction turned out to be spot on, with most case diameters this year still in the mid- to high-40s, but with a gradual increase of small evening watches for women.
While there was still a strong presence of rose gold paired with brown dials and straps, grey seemed to be emerging as the colour du jour. Chic grey dials were paired with black leather straps, white gold and more often than not, stainless steel bracelets. 
Ms Yuen said that many of Chopard's new models this year were made with more economical materials, and many other brands did the same. 
In addition to stainless steel, ceramic and rubber were widely used this year. The preference for these materials resulted in new models that were aimed at a 'younger' and 'sportier' audience. 
Dark grey or blue mother-of-pearl dials are becoming increasingly popular and are threatening to overshadow traditional white mother-of-pearl, while watches with matching dials, cases and straps seem to be an emerging trend. 
Jewelled timepieces were not as prevalent as they were at the fair last year, but fashion watches continued to be widespread, particularly in purple, violet and fuchsia hues that were carried over from fashion clothing trends.



Shenzhen watchmaker: How a self-taught man learned to make $80,000 watches

The Shanghai watch, China’s first mechanical watch, is still a total steal

Three wildly wonderful watches - check out the bad boys of the watch world

Nintendo? Donald Trump? What’s making our watch columnist giddy this week

Luxury Watches

'Survival of the fittest' in the industry