Sihh2016 ribbon cutting

Luxury brands drop Baselworld in favour of SIHH

SIHH has scored a major victory over the world’s biggest watch show by snatching a number of Baselworld exhibitors, who will now present their novelties two months earlier at the luxury Geneva show in January.

Fabienne Lupo, president of Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie organiser Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), confirmed seven new exhibitors would be joining SIHH in 2017.

Girard-Perregaux will move from Baselworld to SIHH while and Kering stablemate Ulysse Nardin will exhibit at both, as will Grönefeld. Both Speake-Marin and Ressence have confirmed to WatchPro.com that they will exhibit at SIHH instead of Basel.

Lupo also confirmed in an interview published on Swiss news website Le Temps yesterday that RJ-Romain Jerome and MCT would join Speake-Marin and Ressence as Carré des Horlogers exhibitors

The Watchmaker’s Square was successfully introduced this year and saw nine independent haute horology brands join the SIHH roster. Lupo stated that this year 12 brands applied to exhibit as part of the Square, with five selected by a panel of experts.

The doors of Palexpo will also be opened to the public for the first time in January. The show has traditionally been an invitation-only event for retailers and members of the press, but tickets will now be sold for the final day. Lupo described the day as a test which could, if successful, be expanded into the weekend.

Lupo explained that the requirements of the exhibiting brands had changed and they no longer relied as much on the week-long Geneva event to confirm orders from retailers. She added that the idea of allowing members of the public to purchase tickets for the show had been around for some time and even hints that SIHH could eventually evolve into a public show as more brands introduce direct sales.

UPDATE 18.05.16: Girard-Perregaux has confirmed it will exhibit at SIHH instead of Baselworld, while Ulysse Nardin and Grönefeld will show at both events.

James Buttery

Editor of WatchPro, the WatchPro Hot 100 and The Luxury Report.

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