And off we go for a new edition of PRIMETIME as we come back on some very recent product launches from URWERK, Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, Breguet and Omega.

But of course we also had to talk about some business news in this very tough environment for brands and even more so for the many suppliers of the industry.

And the biggest news for our good patrons is that we are finally going to a private live session with you guys where you will be able to ask whatever you want!!!

Though we haven't yet published all our individual video reports on what just happened in Geneva, here you go with our latest edition of PRIMETIME with a recap of the event and our view on its successful format.

I sincerely believe that it sets the premises of what the future of what we should experience in the future; a mix of decentralised organisation, cool and informal atmosphere and no need of going too crazy when you want to showcase your new products!

As the consumer behavior and the industry is being hit by major shake-ups as an effect of Covid-19, this is a seminal PRIMETIME edition. The double digit number we all marked with a red pen in our horological calendar for April was -82%. When the world pulled the OFF-switch for Swiss watch exports marking serious repercussions for the industry, we consider how much the Horological ecosystem is susceptible to damage.

In today’s PRIMETIME we will go over some other newsworthy stories of the industry. Naturally this includes a follow up on the Baselworld situation because as predicted it didn’t take long for the LVMH brands, Hublot, TAG Heuer, Bulgari and Zenith to announce their departure from the show.

We will also discuss new product launches as activity is slowly starting again here in Switzerland, but very gently as we don’t want to simply cover these new watches without seeing them in the flesh, proving again the necessity of these physical shows.

In today’s PRIMETIME we go over the latest newsworthy stories of the industry and as you can expect there are a few less product launches than what we are generally accustomed to, but this doesn't mean that there aren't any interesting developments linked with the current situation.

This is a very special moment for all of us and therefore a special PRIMETIME-ISH content today.

We’ve been talking about the impact of this Covid-19 situation since January, but it’s only now that we are all seriously and concretely affected by this crisis, something most Asian countries have been facing since almost two months, but for some naive reasons in the western world we thought it wouldn’t really hurt us that much, some totally minimising the gravity and the consequences of what was an unfortunate and predictable evolution.

In today’s PRIMETIME, we naturally come back on the big news of the recent days with the cancellation of the two big watch shows; Watches & Wonders (ex-SIHH) and Baselworld. The situation reached a point where these decisions were simply inevitable but what impact will have on the industry, not only the brand side but also on the supplier side. This remains to be seen, but we know for sure that it will leave some serious damage especially for those who were already struggling, probably accelerating the fate of a few unfortunately.

The current economic climate for watchmaking is already quite complicated but the recent coronavirus outbreak will naturally have severe consequences as the industry has become so dependent on Chinese consumers in the last few years. Find out more about our opinion on the matter.

This 1st PRIMETIME - Watchmaking in the News of the year is a dense one with not only the latest newsworthy stories regarding the watchmaking industry, but we will also come back on some of the main highlights, the most significant new watches, the tops and flops, the main trends and business news of 2019, well a fun recap moment and what can be learned from it. 

Welcome on this new edition PRIMETIME and we have a rather dense edition to share with you; plenty of new products, plenty of business and gossipy things, a serious update on the SIHH/Baselworld saga and a lot to expect in the coming days.