Baselworld 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the world's largest event for the watch and jewellery industry. The event gives attendee's - be they professionals, journalists, or the public alike - the chance to discover new trends, innovations and creations for the world's most prestigious brands.

1. BASELWORLD
2017
22nd March - 4th April

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION.........................................03
SNAPSHOT OF THE PERIOD
TrendingTopics...........................................05
Volume of Conversations......................07
ANALYZING THE SOCIAL BUZZ
Among Influencers...................................10
Beyond Influencers....................................12
THE BACKGROUND...................................13
BEHIND THE TREND.................................16
READ THE TREND.....................................21
THE METHOD...............................................22
THE FOUNDATION’S MISSION...........23

3. INTRODUCTION
This series of trend reports are a collaboration
between London-based agency RE-UP and
the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie. They
will look back over the past two weeks and
discover what’s been ‘trending’ online.
We aim to discover which watches, stories
and industrial developments in the world of
horology gain the most amount of coverage
on the digital sphere - uncovering why these
trends are important.

4. SNAPSHOT
OF THE PERIOD

5. TRENDING TOPICS AND STORIES
FROM 22ND MARCH TO 4TH APRIL
Percentage of conversation about Fine Watchmaking* brands penetrated by the topic, on a sample of 1,000 articles
*Fine Watchmaking defined by the parameters set by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie in their White Paper report
Baselworld 2017
Omega Trilogy
Tag Heuer Carrera
Tag Heuer Connected
Rolex Sea-Dweller
31.44%
5.14%
4.44%
4.31%
4.09%

6. #1 #2 #3 #4 #5

7. VOLUME OF CONVERSATIONS
ON HIGH-END WATCHES

8. ANALYSING THE SOCIAL
BUZZ OF THE TAG
BASELWORLD 2017

10. Among Influencers
39.24%
Penetration of conversations
by the expression ‘Baselworld
2017’ in Swiss watch related
conversations
2.61%
Penetration of all
conversations by the
expression ‘Baselworld 2017’
231%
Increase of ‘Baselworld 2017’
mentions against the previous
two weeks

11. “Although it has been a challenging year,
Baselworld 2017 dispelled any concerns about
the market as the event has fuelled a renewed
spirit of creativity and innovation. The show
confirmed that the innovation and passion
that epitomise our industry, continue to hold
centre stage”
- Francois Thiebaud, President of the Swiss Exhibitors’ Committee.

12. Beyond Influencers
18,188
All online mentions of
‘Baselworld 2017’
851%
Increase of ‘Baselworld 2017’
mentions against the previous
two weeks

13. THE BACKGROUND
Baselworld 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of
the world’s largest event for the watch and jewellery
industry. The event gave attendees - which as well as
professionals, included journalists from print, digital and
television - the chance to discover new trendsetting
innovations and creations.
Baselworld is vital, not only for the industry professionals
to show the trends but also for the consumers and
industry experts to assess trends over the coming
months.

15. The event is the focal point for more than 106,000 buyers
from over 100 countries, celebrating the world’s best-
known and most celebrated watchmakers.
A tough year for the industry showed at the event, with
buyers down by 4% vs 2016, however brands continued
to show resilience and innovation as they did during SIHH
this year.

16. BEHIND
THE TREND

17. As mentioned earlier in the report, this year, Baselworld
followed in the footsteps of SIHH with trends being seen
much the same. Smartwatches took precedence and when
brands weren’t looking to the future of watchmaking, they
were looking at their past, making sure the vintage trend
was here to stay for a little while longer.
This year’s smartwatch offering was as big as it has ever
been and showed the willingness of the industry, often
cited as reluctant to change, to listen to new ‘connected
consumers’. Tag Heuer spearheaded the trend with the
first ever smartwatch which carried the Swiss Made
label, thanks to their truly customisable and innovative
‘Connected Modular 45’.

19. Vintage reigned supreme again during the event
with Omega celebrating the 60th anniversary of the
holy trinity of tool watches with a limited edition re-
release of the 1957 Seamaster 300, Speedmaster and
Railmaster. Further to this, Tag Heuer unveiled a new
Autavia and Longines released the Heritage 1945,
among many others.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of
Baselworld 2017 is the decision by Managing Director,
Sylvie Ritter, to reduce the duration of the show in 2017
and adjust the prices accordingly.

21. She explained how the industry was undergoing a
‘challenging phase’ and it can be seen that the event is
following suit of what many brands have done in the
past few months (and at Baselworld this year). With
brands reducing entry level watch prices and often
extending their entry ranges, this mimics that of the
event’s choice.
Improved quality and lower prices show an industry
learning to cope in a new landscape.

22. READ THE TREND
Baselworld 2017: watchmaker
Romain Delafontaine shares
his favourites
A video showing Romain
Delafontaine sharing his favourite
watches from Baselworld
Vintage Rules
An in-depth look at the
biggest current trend in Fine
Watchmaking and its effect on
Baselworld this year

23. THE METHOD
We use two key social listening tools to gather the raw
data we have analysed for this report.
The first, an in-house bespoke database of 2000+
influencers and online sources within luxury and
watches - with the ability to gather insight into six
month’s worth of online buzz.
The second, a social (and media) listening tool that
looks at multiple keywords. This allows us to measure
and examine all online conversations over a set period.

24. THE
FOUNDATION’S
MISSION

25. The mechanical watch is a wonderful instrument and
the guardian of craftsmanship, creativity
and of course, time.
Our objective here at the Fondation de la Haute
Horlogerie, is to take our wealth of expertise into
the world through our four missions: to inform, train,
recognise and organise.
Since 2005, we have promoted values of excellence and
tradition within an organisation that has the support of
many Fine Watchmaking brands.

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