With export figures continuing their downward trend, watch brands at Baselworld 2016 are repositioning their latest releases in the lower market segments.

Baselworld 2016 opened surrounded by some uncertainty. The watch industry’s recovery has not been as fast as some have expected, with dipping export rates for Swiss watches well into the new year.

But watch brands seem pretty relaxed about it. Aldo Magada, CEO at Zenith was one of them:

“Everybody was very afraid about this fair in terms of ordering… But, honestly, we reached the order level of last year yesterday.”

Part of the reason for calm is that the brand is one among many that have already repositioned some of their watches to the lower market segments, lowering prices en route. And that’s allowing Zenith, for instance, to match the number of orders it received last year.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we’re not seeing the release of prestige models by watch brands. Ulysse Nardin, Bulgari and Patek Philippe are just some of the companies releasing new models placed well into six figures. Old habits die hard, I suppose.