Baselworld 2016, one more year 2026

Baselworld 2016is the current edition of the most important watch fair in the world, whose origins date back to no less than 1917, when the Basel trade fair dedicated a section to watches and jewelry. It was not until 1931 that the Schweizer UhrenMesse had its own pavilion while its current name – Baselworld – only dates back to the relatively recent 2003.

Baselworld currently occupies more than 160,000 m2 and hosts more than 1,500 exhibitors spread across watches, jewelry, machinery and auxiliary industries. In reality, all the figures are impressive: 150,000 attendees from 100 countries including exhibitors, buyers, visitors and journalists, of which 4,300 were accredited in 2015.

Given the enormous media impact, it is precisely at Baselworld where watch brands present their most important new products, and although many of them launch previews, it is increasingly common for them to keep the secret until the day of the inauguration. And in the era of the paper press - specialized or not - you had to wait to process the information, put it in the press and wait for the publication date (although sometimes special editions were made). Today, and for some years now, photographs and comments are uploaded to social networks practically in real time, making it much more difficult to keep that information confidential if not completely embargoing it.

Many amateurs wonder what it must be like to visit such a “temple of perdition” but above all if it is possible to attend a fair that in principle is only for professionals. The answer is that you can visit it, and in fact there are tickets for one day (60 CHF) or for the entire fair (150 CHF). But once inside, if you do not have a prior appointment it will be very difficult to access the different stands or go beyond seeing the showcases because, let us not forget, a fair is essentially set up to sell, and the stars are the distributors of the different exhibiting brands who will ultimately be the ones who place orders for the new products and give meaning to the entire fair.

Even so, without appointments or anyone who - in principle - is going to let us touch the pieces, it is worth making a visit because it is easy for small brands to have more time than in large groups and with a little luck we can find ourselves with a double tourbillon in our hands receiving explanations from the same watchmaker who conceived and assembled it. Likewise, most exhibitors put huge display cases facing the aisles so that the passer-by can see, not even through the glass, what they have brought for this year.

Furthermore, if the fan is one of those who even knows the names of the different brand CEOs or the watchmakers of the AHCI, for example, he has the possibility of crossing paths with them in the common areas and even stealing a photo of them. Although it is not essential to enter the fairgrounds (five pavilions and a tent) either: a considerable number of small brands are installed both around the Messeplatz and in the Plaza hotel located there, and in the suites of this and other hotels you can discover names or creators who cannot or simply do not want to be "among the crowd."

La Baselworld 2016 edition It begins in literally a few hours, on Wednesday, March 16, and as in the previous seven years, Relojes Especiales will be there to give an account of what the watchmaking year has in store for us. You can follow it in this thread.

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