{"id":4190,"date":"2017-03-23T20:36:03","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T20:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/?p=4190"},"modified":"2017-03-28T09:26:43","modified_gmt":"2017-03-28T08:26:43","slug":"welcome-baselworld-press-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Baselworld \u2013 The Press Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baselworld.com\" target=\"_blank\">Baselworld 2017<\/a> starts tomorrow morning and you might have noticed that we are very excited! Today the event kicked off with a press conference to welcome the world to Basel for the most exciting edition of Baselworld yet \u2013 the 100<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary.<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"western\">Welcome to Baselworld!<\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4192 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Welcome to Baselworld\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620-321x214.jpg 321w, https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620-140x94.jpg 140w, https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As is tradition, the world\u2019s media were given a warm welcome to Baselworld at the opening press conference. The Press Conference was live streamed around the world on the Baselworld web site this year, allowing watch lovers everywhere to join in.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Ren\u00e9 Kamm, CEO of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mch-group.com\">MCH group<\/a>, opened the event welcoming those in attendance and around the world to Baselworld. He advised that \u201cBaselworld has undoubtedly contributed significantly to our group&#8217;s success and global standing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr Kamm then handed over to Ms <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baselworld.com\/en-US\/Press\/PhotosVideos\/Photos\/Show-Management.aspx\">Sylvie Ritter<\/a>, the managing director of Baselworld. She reflected on the history of Baselworld over the last 100 years and looked at some of the major milestones which had been achieved along the way. She commented on the success of Baselworld, she put the success down to the way that Baselworld had succeeded in \u201creinventing, renewing, adapting, modernizing and continuously transforming ourselves.\u201d She insisted that this is what they would continue to do because \u201clooking to the future is our vocation!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr Eric Bertrand, President of the Exhibitors&#8217; Committee, extended another welcome to Baselworld. He addressed the economic and geopolitical situation which has caused problems for many watch manufacturers around the world. He said that the current situation is a great opportunity for those who have \u201cdone their job properly in recent years and who have a solid foundation on the market.\u201d He said that he is confident that \u201cthis recovery will enable the best-armed players to gain market share and be more successful than ever before. And, as the President of the Exhibitors&#8217; Committee, I am firmly convinced that Baselworld should and will continue to reflect the market and remain true to its strategy of favouring quality over quantity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.swatchgroup.com\/en\/group_profile\/boards\/executive_group_management_board\/francois_thiebaud\">Fran\u00e7ois Thi\u00e9baud<\/a> rounded off the event by commenting on the evolution of Baselworld over the years. He made a very important observation in the way that the event has grown from 29 Swiss brands in 1917 to 220 Swiss brands in 2017.<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"western\">What to Look Forward to!<\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/7BW2017PCSSCQ4Q013200897.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-4191\" src=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/7BW2017PCSSCQ4Q013200897-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Welcome to Baselworld\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/7BW2017PCSSCQ4Q013200897-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/7BW2017PCSSCQ4Q013200897-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/7BW2017PCSSCQ4Q013200897-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/7BW2017PCSSCQ4Q013200897.jpg 1366w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sylvie Ritter was very clear that Baselworld had \u201crefused some exhibitors\u201d at this years event and that they made the decision to do so. The reason that they chose to do so was because they wanted to focus on \u201cquality over quantity\u201d. While this means that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/02\/looking-ahead-baselworld-2017\/\" target=\"_blank\">Baselworld 2017<\/a> may not have the highest number of exhibitors, the watchmakers who do attend should provide the highest levels of quality.<\/p>\n<p>One exciting change is the decision to open up \u201cLes Ateliers\u201d which allows independent watchmakers space in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baselworld.com\/en-US\/Show\/FloorPlans2017\/Exhibition-Hall-1.aspx\">Hall 1<\/a>. Sylvie Ritter explained that this is in order to meet the \u201cgrowing demand in this sector.\u201d Another novelty has been added to Hall 1 in the \u201cDesign Lab\u201d which will feature unique innovative pieces and avant-garde creations from designers \u2013 mainly jewellery designers.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s no doubt that this welcome to Baselworld is one of the most exciting in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/history-of-baselworld-100-years-counting\/\" target=\"_blank\">history of Baselworld<\/a>. We will keep you up to date all week on the exciting news coming out of the most important event on the homological calendar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Images: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baselworld.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Baselworld<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Baselworld 2017 starts tomorrow morning and you might have noticed that we are very excited! Today the event kicked off with a press conference to welcome the world to Basel&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[942,12],"tags":[425,559,941,940],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Welcome to Baselworld \u2013 The Press Conference - First Class Watches Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome to Baselworld \u2013 The Press Conference - First Class Watches Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Baselworld 2017 starts tomorrow morning and you might have noticed that we are very excited! Today the event kicked off with a press conference to welcome the world to Basel&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"First Class Watches Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-23T20:36:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-28T08:26:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"First Class Watches Blog\",\"description\":\"All the Guides, News &amp; Tips You Need!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/1BW2017PCMO210800620.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1366,\"caption\":\"Press Conference 2017\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/\",\"name\":\"Welcome to Baselworld \u2013 The Press Conference - First Class Watches Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-23T20:36:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-28T08:26:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/97a7f13c76f3da793dd466274bc47608\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Welcome to Baselworld \u2013 The Press Conference\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/97a7f13c76f3da793dd466274bc47608\",\"name\":\"Richard\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cb419567724a76371dd53a1920535ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cb419567724a76371dd53a1920535ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Richard\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/author\/richard-batt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Welcome to Baselworld \u2013 The Press Conference - First Class Watches Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.firstclasswatches.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/03\/welcome-baselworld-press-conference\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Welcome to Baselworld \u2013 The Press Conference - First Class Watches Blog","og_description":"Baselworld 2017 starts tomorrow morning and you might have noticed that we are very excited! 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