Business as usual at the Omega booth

A few images from the first day of Basel World. Some quick thoughts for industry geeks:

- Seiko and Citizen are both trying to move up market. Seiko doing it more successfully in terms of positioning.

- Casio made its presence felt this year.

This year Seiko went for a closed booth with a corridor that led you through their new models and a small history lesson on the impact of Seiko on the watch making industry.

- Timex continues with its efforts to go up market as well. Their recent purchase, the Versace license moved to Hall 1 from 1.1. which is significant because they seem to be trying to reposition the brand. For those not in the know, Hall 1 is where the big league is. Guess put further emphasis on the GC Swiss made collection. Timex also seperated their TX as a seperate booth.

- Over at the Swatch group booth, there seemed to be an emphasis on excess - Bigger cases, stones. Even Rado jumped into the act with a grotesque stone studded watch that IMHO was a mistake.

- Fossil remains a no-show. They withdrew last year.

I’ll be posting every day up till the end of the fair. If you have been to the fair, do share your observations.

New watch brands like Cuervo Sobrino are making their presence felt this year