Baselworld in Full Swing

Baselworld, the largest watch, jewelery and precious-stone show, opened yesterday. 1892 exhibitors, comprised of 627 watch brands, 736 jewellery companies and 529 related products,
present their newest products and innovations. 100,000 visitors from every corner of the world converge on Baselworld. Top Luxury Watch Brands display their exceptional timepieces in inviting booths where representatives of the companies are available to answer questions and take orders. Baselworld's unique welcoming ambiance creates the optimal environment for doing business. 3000 journalists cover the show, reporting on the latest watch collections and memorizing horological editions. Inviting food kiosks and discussion lounges are dotted around the exhibition floors enabling business meetings to ensue in the comfort.

One can peruse the exhibitions; marvel at their ingenuity and make some serious purchasing decisions all under one roof.

Rene Kamm, chief executive of MCH Group, the organizer of BaselWorld, was optimistic about the current luxury sector, which has largely recovered from the downturn in 2009, with further growth in the forecast for 2011. "The economic upturn was successfully rung in last year and the slump in the luxury goods sector is now a thing of the past.", Rene Kamm said

Although, baselworld takes place on the heels of Japan's recent natural disasters, no exhibitors canceled, Sylvie Ritter, Baselworld managing director said, however if the disaster has an effect on the amount of visitors will only be determined after the close of the 8 day event on March 31st.

A good proportion of the buyers are expected to stem from China, since currently Chinese luxury watch markets are growing as much as 35 percent a year . In fact a report released in November by Bain & Co. said that the Chinese luxury watch market was worth $2.34 billion in 2009. The five top luxury sought after watch brands are: Cartier, Longines, Omega, Rolex and Tudor.

This year BaselWorld runs from March 24th to March 31st in Basel, Switzerland.

de Grisigono Meccanico dG Arrives in White

de Grisigono has revealed its Meccanico dG in white. The Meccanico dG is something of a living legend within the horological circles of today. I say this because, in 2008, when the original Meccanico dG was revealed to the watch world, it was a sweeping hit. The watch featured in countless magazines and blogs, and created quite a stir. The Meccanico dG gave the watch world something quite different. A mechanical movement quite unlike any other seen before. It was not just a interesting watch with a cute design, it was, and still is, a mechanical marvel. In fact the Meccanico dG won the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie in 2009.

The original version - to your right glows green - however there are no tiny LED lights embedded in its dial, and no quartz battery within its case. The watch, brain child of Fawaz Gruosi - founder and chairman of de GRISOGONO, is completely mechanical under the disguise of a digital.
The upper half of the watch is your conventional analog display, and the bottom portion is a numerical display controlled by 651 mechanical components. 23 cams connected to a set of gears collaborate in unison to trigger the change of hours and minutes The digital display utilizes 23 horizontally and vertically positioned micro segments. The Vertical segments are 9 mm high and weigh 25 milligrams. The Horizontal segments are 2.90 mm lengthwise and weigh a mere 10 milligrams. The segments have four sides: two opposing visible faces with colored strips and two opposing unmarked faces. As the time changed, the segments rotate by 90°, thereby displaying the correct change. The change, which can include 1 to 12 segments, occur in a blink of an eye. The watches digital numbers provide an illusion of the quartz watch, as the strips create a vivid contrast to the interior blackness of the watch.

This watch boasts a 35 hour power reserve, quite remarkable if you think about the two completely different displays.

The newer version -stark white against matt black- will be revealed at Baselworld. Baselworld is the leading annual watch and jewelry industry fare. This year BaselWorld runs from March 24th to March 31st in Basel, Switzerland.