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Basel, Switzerland—The Baselworld Fair opened April 25 with 1,460 companies exhibiting and more than 100,000 international visitors attending. The opening ceremonies were conducted by Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, accompanied by Eva Herzog of the cantonal government of Basel-Stadt, Jacques J. Duchêne, president of the exhibitors’ committee, and René Kamm, CEO of MCH Group, which produces the fair.

As contributor Roberta Naas of A Timely Perspective.com writes, along with the annual introduction of new watches and jewelry collections, the big news for this year’s show is a new complex of exhibit halls, the construction of which pushed the 2013 show dates back five weeks from its typical late March venue. It closes May 2.

Hall 1—aka “the watch building” has been redesigned, and the outdoor space in front of it—always a place to see and be seen—is now a lounge specifically created for that function and even has been given a name: “City Lounge.”

The redesign of the fair is designed to address the increasing crossover between jewelry and watch brands, with more mixing of the two in Halls 1 (global brands) and 2 (international brands; i.e. based in countries other than Switzerland but not necessarily global in nature). Halls 3 and 4 remain dedicated to gems and related equipment, and national pavilions are housed in Hall 4.

In addition to the new exhibit space—designed by Basel-based architects Herzog & De Meuron—many of the brands also commissioned top architectural firms to create new booths. As in the past, many are multi-story; but now even bigger and grander. Breitling, for example, has four levels in its stand.

Also this week, Naas reports on new introductions from Corum, Jacob & Co., Louis Moinet, Bvlgari, Citizen, Hautlence, HYT, Tudor (coming to the United States for the first time in fall 2013), Rado, and the thinnest tourbillon ever.

Bvlgari’s “Il Giardino Tropicale” tourbillon taps into the trend for floral themes, while Jacob & Co., one of the companies that built a huge new exhibit in the redesigned Hall 1, introduced both its latest jewelry collection and the Palatial collection of watches. Corum launched its Ti-Bridge Automatic Dual Winder, while Citizen’s offering is one of the three top new perpetual calendar watches debuting at the fair.

Next week, The Centurion Newsletter will feature more of Naas’s reviews of new watch introductions from Basel.

Separately, congratulations to jewelers Roberto Coin, Aaron Basha, and Brumani, who were featured in the first day’s edition of the Baselworld Daily News, the newspaper published by the Basel Fair and distributed onsite during the show. Click here to read their profiles.

Business reports from the fair were mixed. There were more American visitors visible than in recent years, but visitors from China, Russia, and the Middle East were less so. High-end brands reported a fairly positive show, with luxury jewelers looking for distinctive merchandise. Both watch companies and diamond companies report business for the year as a whole is up, but not necessarily conducted at the fair itself. The colored gem sector fared well, though ruby prices have rocketed. The strong trend for emerald (Pantone’s Color of the Year) was evident, and fancy color sapphires also sold well. Moderately priced goods—in diamond and color—were outperforming top stones.

Style-wise, top trends for jewelry were snakes (in keeping with the Chinese Year of the Snake as reported earlier this year in The Centurion Newsletter), emeralds and other greens, and floral motifs.

Top image: watchuwant.com