During the early half of 2020, the confusion in and surrounding the watch industry was palpable. Apart from the pandemic wreaking havoc, and shutting down markets and exports, there was the cancellation of the physical Watches & Wonders Geneva scheduled for April 2020, and the announcement that Rolex, Chopard, Patek Philippe, Chanel, and Tudor were walking out of Baselworld 2021 (leading to conjectures about the fair being in ‘survival mode’). There was a sense of insecurity among brands, visible to the media and consumers. All businesses were scrambling to make a quick shift to digital in order to keep things running, and heritage watchmakers, so far restrained in their use of the digital medium, were no different.

Breitling Summit Webcast

When Breitling released its first webcast more than a year ago, it showcased the brand’s creativity during a particularly extreme situation. The rst episode aired on April 16, 2020, and was presented by CEO Georges Kern. In his first-ever webcast episode, Kern set the right tone by talking about his reasons for taking up this initiative. “We need to stay in contact with watch lovers and watch fans around the world. This is why we are doing this webcast to continue to stay in contact with you and also to present to you the new products we are going to launch,” he had said.