A new watches and jewellery exhibition is taking shape in the very halls that once hosted Baselworld. For collectors across the Gulf, the timing could hardly be more intriguing.
For the better part of a century, the watch world’s calendar bent around a single Swiss city each spring. Then, almost overnight, Basel went dark. Now — seven years after the fair that defined an era came undone — there are concrete signs that the lights inside Messe Basel may be switched back on.
The signal arrived as an invitation. MCH Group, the company that built and ran Baselworld, has joined forces with Informa Markets, the British events heavyweight, to stage a press conference unveiling what the pair call “a new platform designed to connect Asia and Europe, aligned with the realities of today’s jewellery, gems and watches industries.”
That phrasing rewards a second look. The Asia-Europe framing is deliberate, and the Gulf sits squarely at the crossroads of that corridor. With Dubai, Riyadh and Doha now among the most consequential addresses in global luxury, any serious bid to rebuild a worldwide fair will keep one eye firmly on Middle Eastern collectors.
A return to Hall 1.0
The venue tells its own story. The new event is pencilled in for Hall 1.0 — the cathedral-like space where, at Baselworld’s peak, the great maisons erected multi-storey stands that resembled small buildings more than exhibition booths. For anyone who once walked those aisles, the address alone carries weight.
How it all came apart
To grasp why a comeback is even newsworthy, it helps to recall how total the collapse was. The pandemic lit the fuse: the March 2020 edition was postponed, and the fair never truly recovered. Yet Covid alone did not finish it off. What proved fatal was the aftermath — exhibitors felt short-changed over compensation, and the goodwill that holds any fair together drained away.
The exodus that followed was swift. Swatch Group and Breitling had already gone. When Rolex, Patek Philippe, Tudor, Chopard and Chanel crossed the country to Geneva’s SIHH — the show we now know as Watches and Wonders — Basel’s fate was sealed. A 2021 rescue attempt, rebranded HourUniverse, was snuffed out by a fresh pandemic wave before it could draw a first breath.
A transformed playing field
Half a decade later, the landscape is barely recognisable. Watches and Wonders has assumed the mantle Basel once carried, becoming the industry’s principal shop window. Around it, a constellation of satellite events — Time to Watches, Chronopolis and more — has bloomed, stretching the Geneva watch week from the lakeside out to Palexpo beside the airport.
The scale has become almost unmanageable. This April, the 65 maisons inside Watches and Wonders were joined by some 150 further exhibitors dotted across the city, including 50 at Haute Jewels Geneva. No retailer, journalist or enthusiast could hope to take in more than a sliver. Paradoxically, that congestion may be the very opening MCH and Informa have spotted: if Geneva is bursting at the seams, perhaps there is appetite for a second stage.
The pull of nostalgia, and the cold arithmetic
There is sentiment to trade on, too. Mention Basel to anyone who attended in its pomp and the war stories tumble out: CHF 15 hot dogs, taxi fares that beggared belief, three-star rooms going for CHF 500 a night. Time has filed those grievances down into folklore — as it has the fonder recollections, of business done not on the show floor but in the bars a short walk away, once the halls fell quiet for the evening.
Affection, however, does not build an exhibition; economics does. MCH Group, valued north of CHF 2 billion in 2017, is worth barely CHF 150 million today — it could not mount a revival alone. Informa Markets supplies the heft it lacks: part of London-listed Informa PLC, it belongs to a group capitalised at £10.7 billion with more than 14,000 employees worldwide. MCH brings the venue and decades of relationships among Swiss business leaders; Informa brings global reach and a modern playbook for carrying an event’s impact well beyond the walls of any hall.
The piece that decides everything
Still, the whole enterprise turns on a single question: who anchors the show? The obvious answer is Swatch Group. Omega‘s parent walked away from Baselworld in 2018, calling it too costly to present its full stable — and bristling at a hierarchy that handed the prime positions to the biggest names. Group chief executive Nick Hayek has spent close to a decade dismissing the worth of mega-fairs, conspicuously skipping Watches and Wonders.
Geography, though, may yet sway him. Basel and Swatch Group’s heartland both lie in German-speaking northern Switzerland, an hour apart by train. Hayek surely understands that, were he to commit, he would not simply join a new fair — he would make it. Gathering Omega, Longines, Tissot, Blancpain, Breguet, Hamilton, Rado, Certina, Harry Winston, Glashutte Original, Union Glashutte, Swatch, Flik Flak and Mido under one roof would lend any organiser instant credibility.
What it would mean for the Gulf
For collectors in the GCC, the stakes are practical rather than nostalgic. A second major Swiss platform would mean earlier sight of new references, a wider field of houses to explore in one trip, and keener competition among brands for the attention of regional buyers. As Gulf appetite for haute horlogerie deepens — from Dubai’s flourishing boutique and pre-owned scene to Saudi Arabia’s fast-rising collector base — a revived Basel could become a second annual fixture worth the flight, and one more arena in which the Middle East’s voice in fine watchmaking carries further.
For now it remains conjecture, with the substance due only at the press conference. But after years spent drafting Basel’s obituary, the chance to write its comeback is one we intend to follow closely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has the return of Baselworld been confirmed?
Not formally. MCH Group and Informa Markets have invited press to an announcement, with the new fair earmarked for Hall 1.0 of Messe Basel. Specifics stay under wraps until the event.
How would it differ from Watches and Wonders?
Watches and Wonders is the Geneva fair that absorbed many of the brands that left Basel. The proposed Basel event is a separate watches, jewellery and gems platform pitched as a bridge between Asia and Europe.
Why does this matter for Gulf collectors?
A second leading Swiss fair would widen access to new releases and maisons in a single visit, and intensify the competition among brands to court the GCC’s increasingly influential buyers.
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Image credits
Venue photographs: “Baselworld 2015 Outside View” by Baselworld (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons; and “Messe Basel – The Sky” by Montjo (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons. Photographs cropped to 16:9 for layout. Additional illustrations generated by WATCHESPEDIA.
