For watch collectors, enthusiasts, and industry veterans, it’s kind of hard to believe that Baselworld hasn’t existed in a meaningful way since 2019. Covid (and a rapidly changing industry) killed the industry’s biggest trade show in 2020, and as soon the show was on life support, many began prognosticating about the future of large scale industry events. Over the course of the last five or so years, the watch world has settled into a groove, with Watches & Wonders (formerly the far more exclusive SIHH) largely replacing Baselworld as the big spring must-attend watch event, with an ever growing roster of brands exhibiting at the show, and even more taking meetings in unofficial capacities adjacent to it. 

Baselworld being effectively replaced by another show was probably somewhat predictable, but a turn of events that fewer saw coming was the rise of Geneva Watch Days as a major end-of-summer tentpole event for the watch community. Originally conceived in 2020 as a way for a small handful of brands (Breitling, Bulgari, De Bethune, Girard-Perregaux, H. Moser & Cie and MB&F) to bring watch collectors together in a pandemic ravaged year, the event has grown to over 50 official participants and many more exhibiting on the fringes, taking advantage of the influx of collectors and watch industry types on the city of Geneva while the event is up and running.  

If you talk to people who have attended Geneva Watch Days since it began, you’ll hear a lot of chatter about the significant ways the event has changed in a relatively short time. What started as something relatively small and intimate (and decidedly collector and enthusiast focused) has evolved into a much larger endeavor, and it’s clear that real business is being done at Geneva Watch Days between brands, their authorized dealer networks, and the watch media world. But this was my first time attending, so I thought I’d highlight some key takeaways from my experience there coming into it completely fresh. 

It’s Unexpectedly Casual 

It’s impossible not to compare Geneva Watch Days with Watches & Wonders given their prominence on the watch industry calendar and shared location, but the two events could not be more different in their execution and overall feel. Watches & Wonders is filled with pomp and circumstance and is, by design, a largely formal event. It takes place in a giant convention center where you have to pass through a TSA-like security checkpoint to enter, and tailored suits rule the day in terms of attire. 

By contrast, Geneva Watch Days is a far more casual environment. Meetings take place in hotel suites at the Beau Rivage, the Fairmont, and other luxury hotels along the southern bank of Lake Geneva, and while the surroundings are objectively fancy, the meetings themselves have a “come as you are” feeling to them. The culture around Geneva Watch Days, at least to this point in its young history, is not centered around high profile new releases, so the stakes feel somewhat lower. There are, of course, a lot of new watches to see, but many of these brands will have already released their highest profile watches earlier in the year, or are using their time with press and retailers to preview future offerings. 

There were times, in fact, that the Geneva Watch Days experience reminded me of our own Windup Watch Fair. It’s set up very differently, of course, but it’s welcoming in a way that feels familiar. It’s also, like Windup, full of enthusiasts. From talking to other members of the watch media community who have attended GWD in years past, it’s possible that this element is waning somewhat as the show morphs into a more traditional B2B event, but those tailored suits haven’t taken over quite yet.

Indies Rule the Day at all Price Points 

If you look at the founding brands of Geneva Watch Days that I listed above, you’ll notice that all of them (with one exception) are independent. This is a huge contrast with the Watches & Wonders experience, where so many of the brands are conglomerate owned (or they are Rolex, Tudor, or Patek – technically independent, but huge).

I’ve personally become far more interested in independent brands as I’ve gotten deeper into the hobby, almost to the point where I’m (perhaps unfairly) suspicious of big brands that are part of the giant luxury groups. As a collector, I appreciate the variety, tolerance for risk taking, and ingenuity that are all part of the independent watchmaking experience. Geneva Watch Days, at least in the way I experienced it, felt like the center of the indie world for a few days. 

It’s important to point out that while the phrase “independent watchmaking” often means you’re talking about a watch or a brand with price points well into the five figures (or higher), there were fantastic independent watches at all price points featured prominently at Geneva Watch Days. One of my favorites was Albishorn, an entirely new brand that launched at the event. Their Maxigraph is one of the most charming watches I saw, and it has some genuine mechanical ingenuity at a price point just under $5,000. They have a bunch of cool stuff in the works that will begin to be revealed in the coming months, and it feels like they’re set up to be an affordable indie mainstay for years to come. Having the chance to sit down and talk with founder Sebastien Chaulmontet, a watch industry veteran who is currently Head of Innovation and Marketing at Sellita, was a treat, and the type of causal interaction among enthusiasts that, again, reminded me a lot of Windup.

Of course, if you’re interested in the most exclusive high end indies, there are plenty of those as well at Geneva Watch Days, and I had great meetings with De Bethune, MB&F, Armin Strom, and others. But regardless of the cost of the watches on display, a genuine enthusiasm that transcends price tags was always present. That, to me, is what independent watchmaking is really all about, and you’ll see a ton of it at GWD.

Geneva Watch Days is Your Excuse to Visit Switzerland 

Something I get asked every year without fail is whether it makes sense to come to Geneva for Watches & Wonders if you’re just a regular enthusiast seeking a bit of watch tourism. Watches & Wonders, for the last two years, has been open to the public on a limited basis on specific days (it’s ticketed, and not cheap), and of course there’s always a lot of watch “stuff” happening in the city while the show is in town. So my response tends to be “Sure, why not?” with the caveat that you’re probably only going to see watches under glass inside the Palexpo. 

But now, I think my response will be different. I’d probably recommend that you hold out a few months, and attend Geneva Watch Days instead, particularly if your interests happen to be centered on independent brands. Geneva Watch Days, after all, is partially underwritten by the Canton of Geneva, so it’s quite literally public in a way that Watches & Wonders will likely never be. And I imagine for most people Geneva Watch Days will simply be a far easier event to attend, with programming specifically designed for the public, including a schedule of symposiums and panels, and brands exhibiting under a large tent situated along the lake. Also, Geneva in the summer is kind of perfect. We saw snow the first time we attended Watches & Wonders. 

The more intimate meetings with brands technically require an appointment, which might be tough to get if you’re not a retailer or affiliated with the media. But, it has to be said, anyone can walk into the Beau Rivage and wander around, and while the hotel suites, for the most part, have brand staff acting as gatekeepers with iPads listing appointment schedules, I sat in many meetings where people seemed to walk in without appointments and were largely welcomed. A number of brands that might be of particular interest to Worn & Wound readers, including SpaceOne, Depancel, Amida, Nivada-Grenchen, and others, exhibit in a small ballroom where watches are laid out on tables, and everytime I found myself here for a meeting, the room had a festive and fun mood, and I never got the sense that anyone would be turned away. 

That said, next year could be a different animal entirely. The talk of the show for many in the immediate aftermath of Geneva Watch Days opening was a new policy instituted at the Beau Rivage that disallowed even the appearance of a discussion about watches in the hotel’s lobby. Stories surfaced quickly of parties being asked to leave for having watches out on tables for informal meetings, an attempt, ostensibly, to protect the sizable investments brands make in booking suites at the hotel to hold meetings. So, a little stealth might be required to avoid getting the boot, but if you can manage to stay in the good graces of hotel staff, there’s certainly a lot to see.