Baselworld didnt begin as a watch and jewelry fair. It was originally a fair that displayed all things Swiss, from cheese and chocolate, to watches and sausages. My father, Philippe Charriol, told me that at his first Basel, in 1978, he bought a salami-slicing machine. It was also that year, however, that Cartier was finally allowed to show (even though it was a French brand), marking the beginning of the BaselWorld as we know it now, a fair entirely given over to the display of fine watches and jewelry.

But if Baselworld has forgotten its roots as a showcase of Swiss goods, those exhibiting at this years watch and jewelry convention havent forgotten theirs this years theme among industry stalwarts appears to have been back to basics.

I traveled to Basel in March to take in the rows of breathtaking craftsmanship and design. My first stop was the Hall of Dreams, featuring the priciest brands in the industry: Rolex, Chopard, Patek Philippe, and the Swatch group. After the recession, these brands felt an overwhelming desire to return to the DNA that made these brands famous in the first place. Unsurprisingly, Patek had something like 20 debuts at the show, but they all looked pretty much the same as their current models. That, however, doesnt seem to have been a deterrent to its fans: Patek purists lined up literally around the block (thats how big their booth is!) to peer inside its windows and soak up the view. The same was true of Rolex. My husband tells me how amazing the new Explorer II is, with its orange second time zone hour hand, a throwback to the 1970s Steve McQueen Explorer. If thats your thing, youll love it, as well as the new Daytona Cosmosgraph chrono in rose/yellow gold with chocolate dials. Another classic return is the snake watch from Bulgari. And, in the interest of full disclosure, my familys company, CHARRIOL, launched a new Celtic watch featuring our signature cable bracelet that has been in the collection for 30 years.

Apparently black is backon straps, dials, and cases. With new technologies, many brands are making watches with a resistant, dark-colored PVD coating (physical vapour deposition). I also spotted the use of innovative alloys, such as black aluminum, as used by Zenith. Gucci presented itself entirely in black, with new models of the G-Timeless collection. Perrelet, inventor of the automatic watch, had one as well, called Turbine. Some watches even had tinted black glass fashionable, but doesnt make it easy to read the time at night.

Moving in the opposite direction, another trend was colored rubber with matching dials. The first example I saw of this was at Techo Marine, which makes sense since it created the first color and rubber high-end watches; its new collection is called Cruise Original Lipstick. At the lower end, Puma also showed lots of colorful rubber and dials.

The second floor was called the Hall of Desires, featuring the worlds largest luxury brands, most of whom are better known for their jewelry or fashion than their watchesHerms, Harry Winston, Dior, and de Grisogono, to name a few.

To some extent, and following a trend in luxury goods the world over, newly wealthy Chinese consumers are driving the huge sales in fashion watches. This year, a number of new fashion brands are trying to enter the watch market, such as Ferragamo, and existing players, like Herms, Chanel, and Dior, are expanding their presence is this category. The real stand-outs in the fashion and mass-market brands were Guess, TW Steel, Nixon, Tendence, Philip Stein, Fendi, Ferragamo, and Paris Hilton, oddly. Even if these brands didnt begin as true watchmakers, the pieces usually have a great look for a good priceand have the power of a name. Of all of the booths on this level, I was most impressed by de Grisogono, which seemed to exude owner Fawaz Gruosis, famous confidence: a black shiny faade pierced by halogen button lights and a dramatic glass corner entrance with double-height chandeliers and a sweeping semi-circular staircase.

All in all, BaselWorld 2011 was about expert craftsmanship, both from the amazing design achievements among the new entrants trying to make their mark, and from industry titans returning to their tried-and-true roots