EPHJ trade show reports positive outing for 2021
After a twenty-seven month break, the EPHJ trade show is reported to have drawn a positive balance sheet after the close of its 2021 event. 530 exhibitors were showcased during the event, representing businesses in thirteen countries to some 12,000 visitors. While 90% of exhibitors represented watchmaking and 59% microtechnology, nearly half of all exhibitors now also had a medtech component, illustrating increasing medical diversification.
While 25% of exhibitors came from outside of the trade show’s home country of Switzerland, travel restrictions meant that the majority were more local. The Swiss cantons most represented among the exhibitors were Neuchâtel (94), Jura (66), Bern (64), Geneva (55), Vaud (45) and Zürich (16).
The 2021 Exhibitors’ Grand Prize was awarded to the company STS based in Le Sentier, Switzerland. Elected by its peers, STS was rewarded for its alternative solution to rhodium, which has reportedly become the most expensive metal in the world. The company’s alternative, developed with white platinum, allows certain parts of the watch’s movement to feature the same properties and look as rhodium without the use of the prohibitively costly element.
The next EPHJ trade show is scheduled to take place on June 14–17, 2022, in Geneva, Switzerland.
