Rolex, Tudor, Patek Philippe Leaving Baselworld comes as no surprise to us. We had written about this in a previous article you can read here: Baselworld Show canceled and Postponed to January 2021 following in the footsteps of the Watches & Wonders Geneva show. What is interesting though is that these Giants of the watch industry are aligning with Watches & Wonders to form a yet unnamed show. There has been unrest amongst Luxury Brands attending Baselworld for some time now. Here is a quote from Rolex CEO, Jean-Frédéric Dufour, Chief Executive Officer of Rolex SA, and Board Member of Montres Tudor SA said:
"We have taken part in Baselworld since 1939. Unfortunately, given the way the event has evolved and the recent decisions make by MCH Group, an in spite of the great attachment we had to this watch show, we have decided to withdraw. Following discussions initiated by Rolex, it seemed only natural to create a new event with partners that share our vision and our endless, unwavering support for the Swiss watchmaking sector. This will allow us to present our new watches in line with our needs and expectations, to join forces and better defend the interests of the industry.
As you can see from Mr.Dufour's comments, brands have been frustrated with the Baselworld show for some time and the COVID-19 pandemic was partly the catalyst for the “abandoning of the sinking ship” so to speak. Also, something of interest to note is that in the past Rolex has not shown much interest in what other brands do and usually has kept a distance not to align themselves with other competitors. However, this press release was drafted with sister company Tudor, Patek Philippe, Chopard, Chanel on the header. This is defiantly not a common thing for them. Rolex was also the first to release the above statement perhaps to give the impression that those other brands listed are following along with them not the other way around. There may be more going on that the Luxury watch industry is eluding to and Rolex for once feels the industry itself is threatened so needs to plan for the coming change by leading the charge. Rolex has weathered bad storms in the past (such as the quartz watch revolution of the ’70s) and I’m sure they will this storm also. It will be interesting to see what direction Rolex goes into marketing their New Novelties to the world. Let’s wait and see how this all plays out in the future.