Tag: Basel

Baselworld is very much like another planet, rather than the biggest watch, jewelry and gem trade show in the world.  I consider myself very much an “everyman.” Despite interviewing the occasional CEO, or having access to industries or decision-makers, I am and likely always will be firmly in the middle-class.  “Middle class” at Baselworld probably amounts to being able to afford a watch worth chf 20,000.  (Read: not me)

In the first minutes of my first excursion to Baselworld I held a wrist watch backed in Titanium worth chf 87,000 before tax.  I was nervous to hold it, until a salesman ran toward me with his newest gimmick–an analog watch with intricate mechanics to allow blackjack and roulette.  The price?  “About chf 160,000,” he said coolly. Not my middle class, I thought.