Baselworld, which was born during World War I and has been held annually through major global crises such as World War II (1939-1945) and the SARS epidemic (2003), had hoped that it could make a go of the show. Even as brands like Bulgari and Citizen Watch pulled out of the show in February because of the growing coronavirus epidemic, Baselworld management hesitated to pull the plug. They announced that they were monitoring the situation closely with civic authorities, and that the show was still on.