The watch industry was once notorious for being stagnant and old-fashioned, perhaps to a fault. But as the industry faces turbulence, brands can no longer afford to stay hidden behind closed doors.
The Deloitte Global Powers of Luxury 2026 report details that “today’s consumers, especially younger, globally minded ones, seek immersion, storytelling, and interaction.” Watch brands and retailers are using this to direct their marketing towards a new generation of watch collectors. But not every watch collecting group agrees with these prestigious houses opening their doors to the public. What happens to the exclusivity these brands so carefully curate when they make themselves more accessible to new collectors?
Younger collectors don’t just want to buy watches; “they want access to the culture over the product,” said Brynn Wallner, the 36-year-old founder of Dimepiece, a platform that educates people about luxury watches and boasts a cult following of young collectors. “Most luxury watches are prohibitively priced for the majority of young people, obviously with a few exceptions.” Communities, whether online or offline, offer people a way into watch culture without requiring them to make a purchase. “You can educate yourself, you can nerd out, you can go to watch events, and those are all accessible entry points into this otherwise exclusive product category,” she said.
In London, watch trading platform Subdial regularly hosts social events at its 4,500-square-foot clubhouse, which opened in July 2025, with an open bar and pizza delivery. The purpose isn’t to sell watches, but rather for the community to socialize away from screens. Subdial’s co-founder, Christy Davis, told Crown & Caliber, “We’ve always been determined to provide an experience designed by collectors, for collectors, and so when we looked at designing our Clubhouse in Farringdon, that was a key part of the design brief.” He recognizes that the younger generation of collectors “love watches, but for very different reasons. Ultimately it’s about creating a space for our community to celebrate their passions, meet like-minded collectors, and just have fun.”
Brands are taking note, eager to put their own stamp on it. Unlike the private shopping events hosted for UHNW clientele which offer a more curated way to shop, this new era of immersion is not transactional at all. Rather, it prioritizes storytelling and education above all. At Seiko UK, which oversees Grand Seiko in the country, Head of Marketing Faye Lovenbury said they regularly host specialist events centered around Japanese culture for both fans and collectors. “From the intricacy of calligraphy to Japanese filmmaking presented at the British Film Institute, or even Japanese whisky with Suntory,” Lovenbury noted. Each touchpoint reinforces the brand’s cultural identity without ever pressing for a sale.
In the US, luxury brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre have taken a similar approach. In May 2025, JLC brought The 1931 Polo Club Traveling Collection to its Madison Avenue flagship boutique in New York, a free, public exhibition tracing the Reverso’s origins across four chapters, featuring vintage and modern pieces alike. Earlier this year, the brand showcased eight rare vintage Reverso watches dating from 1931 to 1937 through its Collectibles program at the same boutique. Both initiatives were accessible to the public, ideal for young or non-collectors who take a keen interest in the culture of watches, without the pressure to buy.
Audemars Piguet has opened two new US-based AP Houses this year: first in Atlanta, Georgia, in January, and most recently in Miami. The brand positions these spaces as gathering points rather than transactional environments, where clients can meet like-minded collectors, attend brand events, and build relationships within a relaxed, home-like setting. The boutique, in other words, is no longer just a place to buy a watch. It’s becoming something closer to a private members’ club, a place to belong.
Brands aren’t leaning into this out of the goodness of their hearts. This is a calculated response to a very real change in the way collectors are behaving. According to a widely cited Bain & Company projection, Generations Y, Z, and Alpha are expected to account for 80% of global luxury purchases by 2030. The Deloitte luxury report puts it well: “Luxury today lives as much in the experience as in the product.” As the same report notes, “Luxury is being asked to do something harder than ever: create intimacy.”
Intimacy, by definition, implies closeness, and with more people than ever watch-crazy, not everyone is happy about it.
It’s a tension the watch community has been debating openly: what the hobby is really about, and who gets to define it. One middle-aged collector, who asked not to be named for fear of backlash within the community, said, “My observation is that younger people are more likely to get caught up in stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with owning and wearing watches,” adding that from his perspective, for younger collectors the hobby is centered around “shopping and buying, signaling status or prestige.” Where older collectors see craft, younger ones see culture — and the gap between those two words is where the industry’s future is being negotiated.
The old guard values discretion, craftsmanship, and the quiet satisfaction of mechanical mastery. The new generation wants community, identity, and a reason to care before they ever spend five figures on a watch. These aren’t two sides of the same coin — they may be two different hobbies that happen to share a product category.
Brands aren’t choosing the experiential path because it’s fashionable. They’re choosing it because the alternative is falling behind a cultural moment that won’t wait for them. The purists will always buy watches. The question is whether anyone else will — and if the answer depends on a pizza night in Farringdon or a chocolate tasting on Madison Avenue, the watch industry is already paying attention.
