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Business News: Basel Returns To Watch Calendar With April Basilia Watch & Jewelry Show
Basel, Switzerland, is returning as the venue for a major watch and jewelry show with the launch of Basilia planned for April, 2027. There's no word yet on which brands will participate, but event organizers say the show will give watch and jewelry brands from Asia and other parts of the world a venue to connect with buyers from Europe that don't participate at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, which is dominated by a handful of major Swiss brands, including Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Cartier. At a media conference Thursday in Basel, announcing the new fair, organizers stressed that Basilia is not a return of Baselworld, the massive event that was once the world's largest watch and jewelry fair boasting more than 2,000 exhibitors at its peak before Baselworld's final show in 2019. "Baselworld is no more. It has been more than seven years now, and it will not come back," says Roman Imgrüth, the CEO of MCH Group Exhibitions and Events, which is hosting the new fair with Informa Markets, the trade show and business-to-business events division of publicly listed Informa Plc. Basilia organizers, including MCH Group Exhibition and Events CEO Roman Imgrüth (left), announce plans for a new watch and jewelry fair in Basel. Organizers say Basilia, which will take place after Watches and Wonders in Geneva, is targeting some 400 exhibitors and between 2,000 and 5,000 visitors for its inaugural edition next year. Participants and exhibitors have yet to be identified, but organizers sa...
