We attended Watches & Wonders the annual major watch event in Geneva, Switzerland, in mid-April. Our purpose was to meet with 20 some of our 30 plus watch brands to preview and order the new releases for 2026. W&W debuted in 2019, replacing Baselworld as the premier worldwide watch event. Since inception, the event has spawned a plethora of activities and events throughout the city, and we now have Geneva Watch Week, which now pervades the city with horological wonder and merriment.
We met with some of our major brands over several days at W&W including Grand Seiko, NOMOS, Bremont, Oris, NORQAIN, Frederique Constant, plus a new major brand to be announced shortly! Over the next weeks we will be showing the novelties we selected and for some, we’ll have brand specific events at our Escapement space—stay tuned for announcements.
Nomos booth (left), Norqain booth (right)
In addition to meeting our major brands in W&W proper, located in the Palexpo convention center, we had meetings at Time to Watches in the nearby Villa Sarasin, where 85 brands exhibited, from the high-end niche to recently emergent micro-brands. There we had meetings with our existing brands Fears and Nivada Grenchen and met yet another brand we are considering bringing aboard.
Time To Watches at Villa Sarasin
In addition, and newly minted this year, was the microbrand showing at Chronopolis, downtown at Les Halles de l'Île, located on an island in the Rhône River. Twenty of the most successful and exciting microbrands were represented, and of those, we carry four, including Atelier Wen, AWAKE, Dennison, and Nivada Grenchen (also at Time to Watches).
Halles de l'Île, location of Chronopolis
Chronopolis interior
AWAKE Guilloché preview (left), Dennison Safari Capsule (right)
Along the quay fronting Lake Geneva and facing the famous Jet d’Eau, which shoots 150 gallons of water per second to almost 500 feet in the air, are the four-and five-star hotels that host any number of brands showing individually in discreet suites. So, we trekked from the Four Seasons to the Mandarin Oriental, to the Beau Rivage visiting everyone from DOXA to Speake Marin. Being Geneva, luxury enveloped the scene.
Speake Marin Ripples Karman Line (Left), Rolls Royce with Jet d'Eau in backgound)
Not all was work, however. Festivities abound at night, including a very memorable dinner and celebration with Frederique Constant at Spinella, with me and Citizen US president Jeffrey Cohen bookmarked by the proprietors … two of the happiest, most outgoing folks you’ll ever meet. Highly recommended should you find yourself in Geneva wanting some great Italian cuisine served with gusto.
Spinella Party
Watches & Wonders and Geneva Watch Week are not just for the trade. There are days set aside for the public at W&W and many of the other venues welcome the public as well. We’re happy to offer advice should you be interested in attending next year.