THE 10-DAY SWISS INDUSTRIES FAIR OPENED IN BASLE YESTERDAY (FRIDAY) WITH EMPHASIS ON THE SECTION FOR WATCHES AND CLOCKS -- DEMONSTRATING THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF THE WATCHMAKING INDUSTRY IN SWITZERLAND'S ECONOMY. THE FAIR, THE 50TH TO BE HELD, HAS EXHIBITS FROM A RECORD 184 WATCH AND JEWELLERY MANUFACTURERS -- MAKING UP A DISPLAY OF 25,000 WATCHES ALONE.

VISITORS AND BUYERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD ARE ATTENDING THIS YEAR'S FAIR. LAST YEAR, THE PRODUCTION OF SWISS WATCHES AND MOVEMENTS WAS NEARLY 54,000,000 -- AN ALL TIME RECORD. THE 1966 FAIR REVEALS A NEW RANGE OF WATCHMAKING REFINEMENTS IN SUCH FIELDS AS AUTOMATIC MOVEMENTS, ELECTRONICS, ALARM WRIST WATCHES AND SPORTS TIMING EQUIPMENT.

SOME OF THE VARIETIES OF WATCHES OFFERED INCLUDE RING WATCHES, LIGHTER WATCHES, KEY RING WATCHES, BROACH WATCHES AND WATCHES TO BE WORN AS PENDANTS OR POCKET FOBS. THE DOMINANT STYLING THEME IS "LA BELLE EPOQUE", WITH MANY OF THE NEW CREATIONS KEYED TO THE CURRENT FASHION NOSTALGIA FOR THE PERIOD BETWEEN 1900 AND 1920. FOR WOMEN, THE "WATCH LINE" THIS YEAR IS OVAL SHAPED.

CLOCK SALES ARE BOOMING THESE DAYS AS NEVER BEFORE, SO THE BASLE FAIR HAS A WIDER VARIETY ON SHOW THAN AT ANY TIME IN THE PAST. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF WATCHES ON SHOW IT'S POSSIBLE TO CLASSIFY THEM IN TWO MAIN FASHION "STREAMS" -- ONE ULTRA MODERN, WITH PLAIN LINES, AND THE OTHER INSPIRED BY THE STYLES OF 18TH CENTURY FRANCE.