Swatch Group's annual 'Mini Basel' event welcomes over 300 delegates to Dubai

Mini Basel takes place this year from September 10-12, and includes a gala dinner for all attendees the night of September 11th at the One and Only Royal Mirage Hotel in Dubai. The event brings together its distributor and retail network in the Middle east together with presidents, vice presidents and other senior management from the Swatch Group international brands.

"The Mini Basel event has grown tremendously since its inception three years ago, and it demonstrates our commitment to the region," said Mr. Marc Hayek, member of the Executive Group Management Board, responsible for Swatch Group Middle East and President of Blancpain.

"The Middle East is a key market for the Swatch Group, and we aim to set new standards for innovation and product choice, and to share our knowledge and expertise with our business partners and valued customers across the region. As evident by the continued retail and real estate development and influx of internationally renowned luxury brands into the Middle East , we know that this market is one of the strongest and consumer-driven, and the Swatch Group promises to continue providing excellent service and product innovation," he added

This years gala dinner holds a special surprise as Swatch Group Middle East will for the first time unveil an exclusive series of 15 specially commissioned paintings representative of 15 out of the Swatch Group's 18 brands. The Art of Time Exhibition was commissioned by the Swatch Group Middle East and features the work of Iraqi-born artist, Mr. Ali Al Mimar.

"The Art of Time series represents a creative merge between Arabian art and the art of watch making," explained Hikmat Traboulsi, Deputy Country Manager of Swatch Group Middle East.

"Each painting is reminiscent of the Middle East, while also expressing an essential characteristic of each of the Swatch Group brands."', he added.

The Swatch group is the largest manufacturer of finished watches and offers products in every market category. The Swatch Group represents 25 percent of the watch production sales in the world.

Breguet, Blancpain, Glashutte Original, Jaquet Droz, Leon Hatot, and Omega represent the Swatch Group's luxury and prestige segment, and Longines, Rado and Union correspond to the high segment range. Tissot, CK, Balmain, Hamilton, Certina, and Mido are leaders in the middle segment, while Swatch and Flik Flak are international names in the basic segment.

For the first half of 2005, the group posted an above average increase of + 21.4% in Group net income, due to a strong financial result, and further reports a sharp rise in the watches, movements and components production segment. Aside from watches, the Group is a leader in technological research and development, sports timing, and telecommunications.