In the span of six weeks this spring, watch enthusiasts could have attended no fewer than a dozen dedicated watch events across three countries. Watches and Wonders, Time to Watches, and Chronopolis in Geneva. The Vancouver Timepiece Show. Windup Watch Fair in San Francisco. Minutes & Hours in Chicago. Madison Avenue Watch Week and Indies in New York City. The British Weekender at Time+Tide's New York Discovery Studio and Bucherer Watch Week occurred the second weekend in May in New York City. Then Bucherer Watch Week in Vegas, followed by Timepieces at Luxury & JCK last weekend. None of that accounts for lectures at the Horological Society of New York, meetups with collector communities such as RedBar, which I co-founded, and Complecto, or cocktail parties hosted by brands to celebrate new releases.
The proliferation is driven by consumer demand for in-person events and by brands exploring post-pandemic ways of doing business.
No one tracks the total number of consumer-facing watch events globally, which is itself telling: the category barely existed a decade ago. Several of the shows listed above are recent inventions. Geneva Watch Days launched in 2020. IAMWATCH held its inaugural edition in 2024. Intersect was founded in 2021. Minutes & Hours started as LAmicroLUX in 2019. Windup Watch Fair launched in 2015 with a single event; by 2026, it operates in four U.S. cities.
Photo: Kathleen McGivney
Not long ago, the only way to attend a watch show such as Baselworld or the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) was as a member of the trade or the press.
"MB&F's first Baselworld booth, which was actually just a table and a showcase, was in 2009," said Maximilian Büsser, founder of independent watch brand MB&F. "We managed to convince a few independents to take over a little wing of the then 'Palace' tent at Baselworld, and over the years managed to transform that whole tent into a hotbed of independent watchmaking brands.
In 2016, the SIHH (now Watches & Wonders) in Geneva opened a small wing of their show to nine independents called 'Carré des Horlogers.' We would present in both shows, which were usually back to back. I still cannot figure out how I could survive 14 full days of trade shows in a row. I was clearly younger then!"
"In both cases, the Baselworld Palace and SIHH Carré des Horlogers, the vibe was fantastic," Büsser continued. "We were all struggling independents and the feeling of camaraderie was unique. Rough days, but fond memories."
Since then, the biggest swing has been away from B2B and trade shows and toward consumer-facing events, where brands interact directly with the public.
"B2B trade shows have more or less disappeared, with Watches & Wonders gradually giving more importance to collectors and the public," said Büsser. "The important shift is the advent of true consumer shows like WatchTime, Dubai Watch Week, IAMWATCH, and also Windup and many other microbrand shows with huge attendance. We love these spaces where real watch lovers and collectors aggregate and can share their passion."
Long lines before the opening of shows like British Watchmakers' Day and Windup demonstrate attendee-driven demand and excitement. "We launched the Windup Watch Fair in 2015 on a hunch that folks in the watch community were hungry for a new kind of event. As we learned that first weekend, the demand was even greater than we anticipated," said Blake Malin, CEO and co-founder of Worn & Wound. "Fast forward 11 years, and we're now hosting events across the country with lines out the door."
Photo: Kathleen McGivney
The landscape has also shifted from the other side of the booth.
"Fears has exhibited at watch shows since the day the brand relaunched in November 2016," said Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, Managing Director of Fears Watches, one of Britain's oldest independent watchmakers. "I specifically planned for the relaunch to take place at the SalonQP show in London during the 170th anniversary year of the company's founding in 1846. A month later I followed this up with another, smaller show, and since then, Fears has exhibited at close to 100 shows around the world."
Over those hundred-odd shows, the format has changed considerably. "Shows back then were much more formal, with very rigid formats prescribed for how you, as a brand, were to set up your stand and displays," he said. "Ten years ago, it was unheard of for a brand to have watches out on display; everything was behind glass, and only the bravest collectors asked if a watch could be taken out for them to try on."
"Things have relaxed considerably, with many smaller shows being created around the world, which offer a more relaxed, hands-on experience for the consumer," Bowman-Scargill continued. The data supports what he's describing: the Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study 2025, which surveyed 6,500 consumers across 13 markets, found that over 60 percent of watch buyers prefer to purchase in-store, with 51 percent citing the ability to try on watches and 44 percent citing personal interaction as their primary reasons.
That hands-on access, and the chance to meet brand founders in person, is a significant part of what draws the crowds.
Photo: Kathleen McGivney
"We have been blown away by the sheer amount of visitors and the passion they share during these shows," said Büsser. At Windup San Francisco, which ran May 1–3, the demand exceeded expectations: "Just there last month, our M.A.D. team took 900 raffle inscriptions for our M.A.D.2 Live watch, when we were expecting two to three hundred maximum for the 50 watches to be allocated," he said.
Though consumer-facing watch shows have proliferated, they're not in every city, and people travel to attend them. "We notice that many collectors actually take holidays to be able to hang out with each other," said Büsser. "They have become pilgrimages for the watch lovers of this world."
"I think the allure of these consumer-centric shows is being able to get hands-on with many pieces that are less common and often produced in (typically) fewer numbers," said Lee Candela, a collector who runs the popular watch meme account Brodinkee. "An added bonus is the opportunity to meet the faces behind these brands and really allow the brand owners to share their vision with showgoers."
Candela, who is based in New York, has traveled to attend several shows, including District Time in Washington, D.C. "Watch shows give a candid look into the creative process," he continued. "I think it strikes a chord of passion and authenticity with attendees."
Photo: Kat Shoulders / Worn & Wound
Photo: Kat Shoulders / Worn & Wound
Photo: Kathleen McGivney
Malin pointed to consumer demand as the primary driver of Windup's growth. "Our expansion was the direct result of demand pulling us forward," he said. "People want to handle a watch before they buy it, and they want to meet the people who made it. For the brands we work with, many of whom don't sell through retail at all, Windup is often the only place that conversation can happen at scale."
From Dubai Watch Week to British Watchmakers' Day to Geneva Watch Days, the industry has broadly embraced the consumer-facing event as a way to connect with its audience. The old model of closed-door trade shows, everything behind glass, and access by appointment, has given way to something more open and, by most accounts, more effective. The brands get direct contact with the people who buy their watches. The collectors get to handle the product and meet the people who make it. Whether the calendar can sustain this pace is an open question, but at the moment, no one seems to be slowing down. "The internet has changed how watches are discovered and sold, but it can't replicate the experience of someone strapping on a piece and talking to its maker across the table," said Malin. "That's what keeps people coming back."
