After Omega, Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille replicas pulled out of the once-dominant Swiss watch show, Breitling said he would not return to the Basel world next year. However, Rolex replica, which already leads Baselworld’s media coverage, is filling the gap, announcing it will expand its business next year.
Breitling cited the 2020 calendar dates, which have been revised to team up with SIHH, as unworkable, but has not yet said that the absence will be permanent. “We determined to focus on our own global Summit format in the coming year and the subsequent local roadshows,” CEO, Georges Kern said in a statement. Although not part of the Billion Dollar Club, Breitling has traditionally been an important presence at Baselworld and their truancy will absolutely be felt.
Rolex is taking advantage of all the extra space to boost its sister brand, Tudor – which will now have its very own “booth” inside the major exhibition hall. One other brand that is still big on Baselworld is Patek Philippe. “As in previous years, Baselworld 2020 was a real success for Patek regarding the attendance not only in terms of quantity but also quality,” the brand told National Jeweler. “We believe Baselworld is still a platform to meet our partners/retailers and journalists from all around the world. We hope the fair will continue to develop in the future.”
Rolex’s sales continue to remain astronomical and now account for 22.2% of Swiss watch sales worldwide, according to a recently launched Morgan Stanley report on the market in 2020. Omega is the next biggest single brand in terms of volume, yet still accounts for less than half of Rolex’s outsized share with 9% of global sales.
Replica Rolex and Omega – along with Cartier, Longines, Patek Philippe, Tissot, and Audemars Piguet are now the seven fake watch brands with annual turnover above the $1 billion marks, with TAG Heuer barely missing the metric. Rolex sales were worth $12.6 billion to retailers around the world last year, WatchPro reports. 75% of the value of global watch sales comes from the four biggest popular replica watch groups: Richemont, Swatch Group, LVMH, and Rolex of course.