China's economic surge, the discreet yet inevitable progress of e-commerce: these and other sweeping changes are gradually reshaping the watch industry in terms of both its geography and its structure. The financial crisis, from which the world is now supposed to have more or less recovered, served both to reveal and accelerate existing movements. In the face of these upheavals, the sector's ritual gatherings, its annual trade fairs, must also rethink their future.

During an interview granted in the spring of 2010, Nicolas Hayek, father of the Swatch and saviour of the Swiss watch industry, noted that "for brands such as Swatch, Tissot, Longines and certain others, being present at Baselworld is no longer indispensable". Meanwhile, Franco Cologni, Chairman of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie and member of the Directoire of the Richemont Group, stated in Bilan magazine that "in the medium term, the Geneva salon will no longer have any particular commercial reason for being", and that the commercial event would need to be replaced by a cultural and institutional type of happening.

Fabienne Lupo, Managing Director of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), confirms that "The role of trade fairs is evolving. We are moving from a purely commercial platform to a platform providing special treatment to clients to whom we present a showcase of the expertise and the DNA of each brand. Sales naturally remain a fundamental objective, but as part of a more quality-oriented approach."

So the selling continues, but to professionals, to the distributors and large retailers who come to place their orders for the year, sometimes accounting for as much as 40% of brand's turnover in a few days. Final customers have to wait until the much-coveted model actually reaches the store, several months later. And yet it is the latter that the very same brands are increasingly targeting. As Fabienne Lupo emphasises, the ever growing number of monobrand boutiques is propelling them from the wholesale world into that of retail, and the rise of e-commerce, a domain that remains marginal but nonetheless very real, pushes them yet further in this direction.

All of this means that final customers, whether major collectors or brand enthusiasts, are playing an increasingly substantial role. So who should the trade fairs be hosting: professionals, devotees or those with just a casual interest ? "Professionals only" is the mantra of the SIHH, whose 12,500 guests nonetheless include a few key private collectors who meet and mingle in a plush atmosphere where champagne sushi and canapés can be sipped and nibbled in complete serenity.

"Mostly pros" is the response from Baselworld. While the Basel event is open to the public, the 100,000 people who yearly stroll through the 160,000 square-metre exhibition area are mostly retailers, distributors and specialised journalists. Between the 60 Swiss-franc entrance ticket and some booths that are hard to access, Baselworld is not necessarily actually intended to appeal to the masses.

"A mixed audience", insists the GTE, Geneva Time Exhibition, the latest newcomer to the world of watch fairs. At its first edition in January 2010, the 5,500 visitors included professionals who were in Geneva for the SIHH, along with private collectors and watchmaking enthusiasts. Attracting final customers is particularly crucial for a fair which, contrary to the others, allows direct sales and does not take any commissions, as its co-founder Florence Noël points out.

"Mostly amateurs and connoisseurs" proclaims Belles Montres in Paris. "We obviously don't prevent professionals from coming, and there are plenty of them, but the Belles Montres exhibition is above all intended for the general public", explains Alain Faust, who launched this event in autumn 2007. With an entrance price of 10 euros, it attracted 12,000 passionate enthusiasts over the three-day exhibition held in the magic setting of the Carrousel du Louvre. "What really matters is to enjoy contact with the models. If all the showcases were to remain locked, the Salon international de l'horlogerie de prestige - the official name of the Belles Montres fair - would be of no particular interest and people might as well go to a museum!" exclaims its founder.

The geography of the trade fairs is currently closely linked to that of watch producers: Switzerland takes the lion's share with Basel and Geneva. However, a new logic is emerging and is related to the consumers brands are seeking to reach. The GTE is working on an exhibition in Mumbai and Belles Montres intends to export itself to China in September 2011. "Brands basically dream of two destinations: Shanghai and Shanghai!" says Alain Faust with a chuckle. "Watch fairs intended for final customers make sense", agrees Fabienne Lupo. The Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie which she co-directs will be present at Belles Montres in Paris with an initiation workshop. She adds that "salons of this type exist in several major cities, including Munich and Mexico, and a large-scale project should in due course be set up in New York"