Business at the Basel watch and jewellery fair is at its briskest since before the 2001 attacks on the United States plunged the luxury sector into recession, exhibitors at the industry's largest trade fair say.
"There is no comparison. There are more from abroad. Asia is here, the Middle East is here and there are many more customers from America. The first few days have been promising and we expect that to continue," said Martin Bachmann, sales director at Maurice Lacroix, the Swiss upmarket watch maker.
Organisers at BASELWORLD 2004 think up to half of the global watch and jewellery turnover at the wholesale level stems from business at the fair, which attracts watch firms like Swatch, Timex Corp and Japan's Seiko as well as more general luxury firms like Gucci and Bulgari.
"It is definitely better than last year," said Frank Trivino, an executive with Blancpain, one of Swatch's swankier brands. "Last year, we had the impact of SARS and the Iraq war."
The sector suffered in the last three year's as security fears hurt the key tourism sector and the rich were hit by the economic downturn and tumbling stock prices.
"I believe people were fed up. Confidence is back," said Francois Thiebaud, president of Tissot, one of Swatch's top three brands. "The first few months of the year were really excellent. (We saw) really good double digit (sales) growth."
Around 80,000 will attend the fair, which continues until Thursday, up a fifth from 2003.
"There are more than last year and business appears to be better. Last year there was nobody from Asia," said Charlotte Walhain-Vrhovac, a spokeswoman with Tag Heur, a unit of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods group.
The Swiss government barred exhibitors from Hong Kong - the world's second biggest watch exporters after the Swiss - as well as China, Singapore and Vietnam because of SARS in 2003. Up to a fifth of Hong Kong export orders come on the spot at the fair.
"I believe it will not be forgotten totally," said Luther Wong, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades & Industries. But "I've talked to a number of exhibitors and they are happy to be back...the amount of visitors so far is positive."
Hong Kong's watch exports totalled some HK$42 billion ($5.4 billion) last year and are expected to grow by 10 percent this year, driven by pent up demand in Europe.
Timex Corp, North America's biggest watch group, also sees a strong year.
"No question, particularly the international markets are doing better than they were. I cannot say it will be a record year, but for sure it will be the best year since September 11," President and Chief Executive Joe Santana said.
As well as being home to Swatch, Switzerland is home to Richemont, with its Cartier brand, and also Rolex. Swiss watch exports totalled 10.2 billion Swiss francs ($8 billion) last year - or eight percent of Swiss exports.
"We expect to have a better 2004," said Jean-Daniel Pasche, the Swiss watch industry federation (FHS) president, expecting three to four percent growth driven by increased Asia demand.
However, Omega president Stephen Urquhart said while he was optimistic, the sector was jittery, particularly over security.
"Hopefully there is not another major setback. You never know what will happy today - everything is conceivable, terrorism, anything".