Size does matter, at least at Basel
Big, bigger, best, never let it rest… seemed to be the mantra at the 2013 Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show, once described as the “Olympics for watch aficionados”. Here, each brand’s display space is almost as important as the products it holds, and companies vie with each other to create the grandest of booths.
The 41st edition of the fair in Switzerland’s northern city of Basel, which wrapped up on May 2, saw the world’s top horological brands striving to outdo each other by doubling and even tripling the size of their display booths. Many of the brands even hired starchitects to create complex architectural designs to ensure that their booth stood out among the 1,460 exhibitors from 40 countries. As marketing strategy consultant Al Ries told the press, “The products play an important part. But the design of the pavilions also speak to the importance of the brands.”
Plus, the local brands had cause to show off. Despite the economic gloom, Swiss watchmakers posted record exports last year of $23.5 billion–which is nearly 11 per cent more than the previous year.
Baselworld’s new look started from the main exhibition halls, which were refurbished completely by Herzog & de Meuron, who created Beijing Olympic’s famed “Bird’s Nest” sports arena. The new hall complex–220 metres long, 90 metres wide and 32 metres high–provided a total of 38,000 square metres of exhibition space on the ground floor and the two upper storeys that spanned the Exhibition Square.
Close to the entrance stood the Hermès booth, resembling a two-storeyed box with a steel framework and an inner structure of wood, glass and metal. Designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito to “project lightness, peace, stability, and ethereality”, Hermès said the pavilion was meant to be a physical representation of its fundamental value of craftsmanship, a commitment to handmade products, the elegance of natural materials and the appreciation of precision and innovation. “Hermès creates its work with special care, respecting nature and naturalness in this society where economy dominates,” Ito explained. “I designed this pavilion to express the same spirit, using natural materials like wood and natural-dyed textiles.”
Tag Heuer, which belongs to French luxury group LVMH, created a three-storeyed space in the style of a cruise liner. Approximately, 100 people worked for seven weeks to assemble the ‘luxury liner’, which was brought from Italy on 50 trucks. It included 41 offices, two conference rooms, three kitchens, a photography room and a large bar/lobby area. Like previous years, the Tag booth was designed by Italian architect Ottavio Di Blasi.
Breitling expanded its booth but retained the gigantic suspended aquarium that has become a key Baselworld attraction over the years. Some 4,300 tropical fish performed underwater ballet in the aquarium.
Swatch Group label Jacquet Droz returned to its roots, replicating the clockwork automatons that made it famous back when it was founded in the 18th century. As in the last few years, the compa`ny tapped the talents of automaton genius Francois Junod to produce a life-sized magician who put on a show at the booth every quarter of an hour, revealing hidden watches.
Zenith, also part of the LVMH family, set up a booth that resembled its real-life boutiques which combine beige-coloured stone with smoked glass, leather and wood. The three-storeyed booth was designed by Geneva’s Brandstorm architects. A giant screen at the entrance recounted brand ambassador Felix Baumgartner’s daring skydive from space last October.
Hall in the making
Exhibition space: 141,000 sq metre
No. of halls: 12 No. of new stands: 1,000
Biggest stand: 1,625 sq metre Smallest stand: 6 sq metre
Length of stand facades: 21 km
Steel used in stand structures: 6,300 tonnes
Tradespeople required to construct stands: 20,000
Lorry loads of equipment for stand construction: 7000