The independent event was announced in March and intended to be held in April; however, the worsening COVID-19 pandemic forced its participating brands – Bulgari, Breitling, Ulysse Nardin, De Bethune, Gerald Genta, Girard-Perregaux, H. Moser & Cie, Urwerk and MB&F – to postpone it to August.
With the infection rate now under control in Switzerland, and given the support of local authorities in Geneva, the event has been officially confirmed and a website, www.gva-watch-days.com, launched.
Instead of a centralised exhibition, Geneva Watch Days will see product showcases take place in hotels, boutiques, and the watchmaking facilities of participating brands – which now also include Maurice Lacroix, HYT and Louis Moinet – to create a “decentralised, agile, collegial, convivial and inexpensive” event.
The ‘reception and information desk’ will be located at the Four Seasons Hotel, and, according to the website, welcome cocktails, dinners, and a ‘GMT party’ are all scheduled to take place – subject to health restrictions.
Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO Bulgari, said, “The decentralised format of this unique watch brands gathering will allow us to be safe. Also, we have put together strict hygiene rules for all participants and visitors. No risks will be taken. Grouping the entire Swiss watch industry in a single location, Geneva, is a major and unique opportunity to rekindle the flame of the watchmaking sector that has been slowed down in the last weeks.”
COVID-19 has indeed had a severe impact on the Swiss watch industry, with exports falling 81.3 per cent in April, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH).
At retail, the Sell-Out Index – which is published by Swiss watch and jewellery consultancy firm The Mercury Project – found that in April Swiss watch sales fell 89 per cent in the US, 74 per cent in Hong Kong, and 12.1 per cent in mainland China, which are the industry’s three largest markets.
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