This year’s edition of Baselworld brought new surprises, innovations and a lot of excitement.

“Our strategy met with strong approval from the exhibitors during the presentations. We will tackle change with vigour and passion”.
- Michel Loris-Melikoff,
Managing Director of Baselworld

 

This year’s edition of Baselworld brought new surprises, innovations and a lot of excitement. The event was held in Basel, Switzerland, the home of la haute horlogerie, where the CEOs of the most remarkable brands spoke about the changes the industry undeniably and inevitably goes through in order to evolve, and of course the challenges these changes might present.

Along with the watchmaking industry, Baselworld seeks to transcend barriers in years to come by transitioning from a fair, into the most relevant experience for the jewelry and watchmaking community by offering participants, which range from representatives of the watch, jewelry, precious stones and technology sectors as well as journalists, bloggers and influencers, but also dealers and collectors, a digital platform with networking tools and services that will enhance the way we appreciate timepieces. The outside exhibition square will be completely redesigned and interactive.

The next edition will take place on April 30, 2020, and we can’t wait to see what the digital era in Baselworld will bring. In the meantime, these are some of the best pieces from Baselworld 2019.  

 

Ref. 5212A-001 Calatrava

Weekly Calendar

Boasting a new, optimized self-winding base caliber, the watch displays the  number of the week along with the day of the week. The perpetual calendar is one of the brand´’s most celebrated features, and with the addition of this new complication, Patek Philippe continues to remain relevant in an era of smart phones. The Calatrava Weekly Calendar’s silvery opaline dial is unique, displaying all the indications with fitness in an elegant 40mm stainless steel Calatrava case, cold-formed in the manufacture’s ateliers with high-tonnage presses and then meticulously hand-polished by experienced artisans.

 

 

Black Bay P01

One of the most praised watches of Baselworld this year is the Tudor Black Bay P01, and with good reason. The Black Bay’s design was based on a legendary prototype developed to replace the standard diver’s watch model that Tudor used to provide for the US Army since the 1950s. There were many unfulfilled versions over time, but now the Black Bay represents a model that has been half a century in the making, with sporty aesthetics and technological innovation, while still retaining the classic features of the old model, such as the winding crown at 4 o’clock. The timepiece is powered by the Manufacture Calibre MT5612, certified as a chronometer by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) and designed to ensure durability and high performance, allowing the watch to resist up to 200 meters underwater, with a 70-hour power reserve.

 

 

Clean Ocean

Limited Edition

The Oris Clean Ocean is another highly praised timepiece at Baselworld this year, not only due to its beautiful blue gradient dial, or its high level of performance, but because it is the face of a new conservation program led by the Pacific Garbage Screening, a pioneering young organization that’s developing technology that will help keep the world’s water clean by capturing plastic before it enters the ocean. The goal? To turn plastic into energy. This divers’ watch comes in a stainless steel  and sapphire case, rimmed by a uni-directional rotating bezel with aqua blue ceramic insert and it’s limited to 2,000 pieces presented in a box with an outer shell made of environmentally friendly algae and a recycled plastic inlay.

 

 

Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II

The new version of the GMT-Master II is powered by the caliber 3285 and was designed as a navigation aid for professionals criss-crossing the globe. Like all Rolex watches, it carries the Superlative Chronometer certification, ensuring excellent performance and state-of-the-art technology. Rolex is the pioneer at developing ceramic for monobloc bezels and monobloc bezel inserts that allow resistance to corrosion and scratches. The in-house manufactured movement, made with 31 rubies, is equipped with a self-winding mechanism that allows a power reserve of 70 hours and withstands underwater depths of up to 100 meters. It comes with a Jubilee bracelet, first created in 1945 for the Oyster Perpetual Datejust model.

 

 

 

Text: ± Photo: SIHH © 2019 ALL RIGHT RESERVED