Watches of Baselworld 2013

Basel--The introduction of more mid- and entry-price watch lines, an affinity for blue dials and timepieces created in the Art Deco style were among the trends observed at Baselworld 2013.

The show, which took place April 25 to May 2 in Switzerland after undergoing a $455 million makeover, is among the largest jewelry and watch trade shows in the world.

It is considered a major showcase for watches in particular, as many brands develop their latest innovations on a timetable of debuting them in Basel. One executive described the show as marking the “new year of the watch industry.”

A total of 1,460 brands exhibited at this year’s show, down 24 percent from the prior year, and a majority of those are watch companies. Below are highlights of the top three trends tracked by National Jeweler, as well as links to a photo gallery of watches.

1. High and low
During Baselworld 2013, Swatch Group called a press conference to make a big announcement. As it turned out, the announcement did not involve a highly complicated revelation in watch-making from Breguet or Blancpain.

Swatch Group, instead, revealed that it had created a self-winding mechanical version of its plastic Swatch watch, the Sistem 51. The watch will retail for about $200 or less. Its movement contains 51 parts, less than half the number found in most mechanical watch movements, and is the world’s first movement assembled entirely by machine.

With this watch, Swatch Group is targeting the Asian market, where consumers are “in love with” mechanical watches but can’t always afford them, Swatch Group Chairwoman Nayla Hayek told Reuters.

The same could be said for the U.S. market, where consumers still love jewelry and watches but no longer have the same amount of disposable income (or access to lines of credit) and are looking for lower-priced alternatives of good quality.

“Certainly, the U.S. market appears to be very strong in that sub-$1,500 segment, if not below,” said Jon Cox, the Zurich-based head of Swiss research for Kepler Capital Markets.

Consider recent launch lines in the United States: 88 Rue du Rhone, created by the grandsons of watchmaker Raymond Weil, the U.S.-made Shinola, and Claude Bernard, which launched just a few months ago and makes mechanical watches starting at $575 retail.

Existing brands also are attempting to create lower-price mechanical models, though their price tags don’t dip quite