Reply With QuoteI was thinking the same. I wonder when there will be any news of the new releases from Omega?
What's the deal with the rival event that Swatch Group are supposedly hosting at the moment? I get that it's targeted more squarely towards retailers, but it doesn't even have a website?
I was thinking the same. I wonder when there will be any news of the new releases from Omega?
Baselworld: moment of truth for revamped watch fair
...Swatch Group will be also putting similar ideas to the test this week, as it hosts its own presentations for retailers over in Zurich.
At a press conference in Switzerland last week, chief executive Nick Hayek explained that the event was conceived in response to “the wish of the retailers”, who wanted to visit the brand while they were in Basel.
“[Baselworld] has to do without Swatch Group,” he told journalists. “We don’t feel bad” about not being at the event. “We don’t have to engage in any kind of show business.”
Mr Hayek added: “We will do more business because our people will be in the markets and not at Baselworld.”...
I was also wondering about this, any news? Was this event ever intended to be the Swatch Group’s alternative to Baselworld, or to be something else entirely?
Clearly there have been no new model announcements from the likes of Omega, with the exception of what is probably the first of several anniversary Speedmasters. I wonder if Swatch realised that announcing new models in Geneva when all the journalists are in Basel doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Or perhaps they are moving towards announcing new models all year round, when they aren’t competing for attention with other brands.
Let’s face it, you don’t really need a physical show these days to get publicity, or to convince anyone to stock brands as established as Swatch’s. Put out a few pictures and a press release and it will be copied everywhere by all the blogs more or less unaltered and without any critical perspective. For the odd ‘hands on’ exclusive it would be cheaper to just courier them to the journalist or invite them to a boutique.
Either way does anyone know for sure why we’ve heard absolutely nothing about this event?
Not for sure, but there could be an embargo until the Basel hype has died down, although anything more Hanna couple of days would be unsual, I'd say.
Is there a reason why we should hear about the conversations between Swatch and their retailers? Who would be telling us? Who would want to tell us?Originally Posted by Itsguy
I think the Basel hype died after day one. The Hodinkee team seem to have spent more time posting images of their food choices than they have of the watches, which pretty much sums up Baselworld this year.
Simply because the event was initially presented as their alternative to Baselworld, that they would pull out and do that instead. That would seem to imply new model launches, as they would have had in Baselworld in the past. But apparently it’s not that, as you say it seems to be something dull for retailers and not the press.
As I said above, there is a rationale for not launching new models at the same time as everyone else, and for not having an expensive show when everything happens online anyway. But it would be good to know what they are doing - basically I was hoping to see some more new models after a lacklustre Baselworld.
I heard the Swatch event is strictly no camera allowed kind of event,and those who got an invitation aren’t allowed to post on socmed if they don’t want to be blacklisted by Swatch group
I heard rumors about 40mm Bp FF LE,the return of cushion shaped (?) Zenith A386 and some interesting Longines (that are not ruined by date window) but so far I got no pictures yet....
I hope some of those rumours are true!
I think I'm more excited about Longines than Omega this year. Omega's in-house Co-Axials are just too thick, and Longines' heritage releases have been great for the past few years.
I think it's retailers only, for now. There's meant to be a consumer version in May.
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