Baselworld’s Future Uncertain as Exhibitors Revolt Over Refund Policy

used to describe Baselworld organizers in the past.

“They’re [MCH Group] trying to make it seem like they’re doing a good deed, but this is obviously not how all the exhibitors feel,” he said.

Many jewelry and gem exhibitors, he said, think the refund policy is unfair, particularly given the change in dates.

Baselworld 2020 was supposed to take place April 30-May 5, but the 2021 edition is set for Jan. 28 to Feb. 2, which puts it right after VicenzaOro and The Original Miami Beach Antique Show, and right before the Tucson gem shows.

“These dates don’t work for us,” the exhibitor said, noting that brands were not consulted about the date change. “I’m not going to drop Tucson to go to a dying Basel show.”

Exhibitors want MCH Group to either issue a 100 percent refund to anyone who can’t do the 2021 show or move the show back to April.

Also angering exhibitors: Baselworld has given them only until April 30 to choose one of these two options, a deadline the exhibitor described as “insensitive and untimely” in light of the circumstances.

“If they don’t submit to exhibitor demands, they’re going to lose a lot of exhibitors,” he said.

A similar, and more ominous, prediction came from Hubert J. du Plessix, president of the Baselworld Exhibitors Committee and an executive with arguably the most powerful watch company in the world.

Du Plessix is the chief investment officer at Rolex.

According to Singapore-based journalist Jiaxian Su, founder of the blog Watches by SJX, du Plessix sent a letter to MCH Group that Jiaxian described as “quietly scathing.”

In the letter, du Plessix, in his capacity as president of the Exhibitors’ Committee, asks for full refunds of fees paid for Baselworld 2020.

“Otherwise,” the missive states, “we fear that this will be the end, pure and simple, of Baselworld, especially since the dates chosen in January 2021 are not suitable for the jewellery, gemstones and pearls sector, and that coordination with Watches & Wonders (SIHH) no longer exists.”

Show director Michel Loris-Melikoff said in an email to National Jeweler that it is “impossible” to pay back the full amount because it would “jeopardize Baselworld.”

He also said the dates were “discussed extensively” with the show’s Advisory Committee, in which the watches, jewelry/gems and technical sectors are represented, and that the watch industry was the sector pushing to have the show “much earlier” than April.

Baselworld 2020 was slated to begin immediately after Watches & Wonders Geneva (formerly SIHH), which was canceled as well.

Watches & Wonders Geneva has not officially announced the dates for its 2021 show and did not respond when asked about them Wednesday, but it seems that the two shows won’t be held together.

Loris-Melikoff said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Le Temps that Watches & Wonders Geneva 2021 will take place in April.

When asked about 2021 dates, Loris-Melikoff told National Jeweler this: “[Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie Chair and Managing Director] Fabienne Lupo and I seem to have a different reading of the exchanges we had in February.

“But no matter, the situation is as it is. Our choice of January is only for 2021. We still believe that coordination must be restored as soon as possible.”

Loris-Melikoff also noted that he’s begun talks with the Baselworld Exhibitors’ Committee in an effort to “find a common path.”

“If new solutions emerge in the discussion that are right for both sides, I won’t close my mind to them,” he said.