Basel 1971

 By Bruce Shawkey

Pictures of watches from the 1971 Basel Expo. The expo was in full swing by then, growing from an event intended mainly for the trade, to a full-blown media event. This is the coverage provided by Europa  Star magazine.

I had the grand experience of attending Basel in 2014 as a media rep for the NAWCC Bulletin. The show's organizers pretty much treat the press as royalty, setting up a special room to file our reports,, and feeding us breakfast and lunch. It was my good fortune to go that year, because subsequently, the Expo began to crumble of its own weight. The show isn't even held any more, replaced by smaller, more focused shows.