Inside Watches and Wonders 2025: An Editor’s Take

We’ve just returned from Watches and Wonders 2025, something I’ve been attending in various forms for over two decades. These fairs aren’t exactly what people might expect—for one thing, you can’t actually buy watches at Watches and Wonders. And while it’s an extremely high-end, professionally-run experience, it’s also surprisingly meritocratic.

You’re invited because they believe you’ll do the work, understand the product, and know the culture. If you’re a deeply geeky watch person and you make it into this world, it’s an amazing experience.

We usually arrive a day before the fair start on Tuesday, sometimes on a Sunday. This year, my luggage decided to show up two days late. Sundays in Geneva are slow unless you’ve set up meetings with friends or decide to hop on the tourist tram. But by the first actual day of the fair, the energy shifts. People converge from different hotels and load into organized shuttles, all aiming to arrive around 9 a.m.

Walking into the fair, you’re immediately hit with a level of premium and luxuryLuxuryA lifestyle defined by exceptional quality, craftsmanship, exclusivity, and sophistication, encompassing the finest products, services, and experiences that represent the highest standards of refinement and excellence.Go to Luxury Glossary that Watches and Wonders and the old SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) have always used to distinguish themselves from Baselworld. Back in the ’90s, brands like Cartier, Baume & Mercier, and Gerald Genta split off from the traditional Swiss Watch Fair in Basel (later renamed Baselworld) because they wanted to surround their clients with the kind of environment they felt their work deserved. That same spirit still greets you when you step through the doors today.

The fair gets busy, sometimes very crowded. You’re surrounded by luxuryLuxuryA lifestyle defined by exceptional quality, craftsmanship, exclusivity, and sophistication, encompassing the finest products, services, and experiences that represent the highest standards of refinement and excellence.Go to Luxury Glossary, but don’t expect to be pampered or handheld the entire way. The heads of brands aren’t spending their days hovering around you, they’re spending time with serious clients, friends and insiders, or preparing for private meetings. Those deeper interactions with individuals may happen before or after the fair at factory visits or smaller events.

As you walk through Watches and Wonders, you pass what they call “booths,” but really, these are sprawling structures larger than many houses. Patek PhilippePatek PhilippeA Swiss watchmaker founded in Geneva in 1839 and widely regarded as among the most prestigious in the world, known for complications, hand finishing, and its slogan about passing watchesGo to Patek Philippe Glossary’s modern and minimalist freestanding space is a long-running example. Chopard’s booth mixes traditional and luxurious Swiss architecture. This year, TAG Heuer’s area featured Formula One cars and simulators. And Grand Seiko’s enchanting display pulled bigger crowds on public days than some of the Swiss brands.

For those in the industry, the fair isn’t just about seeing the new releases. It’s about the people. Some of the best, most valuable information comes not from presentations, but from the unscheduled walks, the coffee breaks, the casual conversations, the exchanging of personal snacks actually. Information flows both ways.

One really positive shift over the last few years has been the brands’ focus on public days. After the press and business meetings wrap, Watches and Wonders opens up to the public,  and brands are putting in real effort to make it special. In the old Baselworld days, Patek Philippe and Rolex would have grand displays visible from the outside that even the public could see. Now with the Geneva fair being more open to the public, brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre set up interactive stations showing craftspeople working on real pieces, creating a kind of homey, community atmosphere. Rolex allows visitors to wander through their presentations, offering a rare all-encompassing up-close look at their watches.

And it’s not just the big players. Independent watchmakers and smaller brands also carve out space, giving collectors a chance to meet the actual creators behind their pieces.

The watch industry is unique. It’s a blend of extremely serious business and deep, almost obsessive passion for craft and technology. The vibe at Watches and Wonders is exclusive, but if you know what you’re doing and they know you know what you’re doing, it’s incredibly welcoming.

Yes, the industry has a reputation for elitism. But in reality? Nothing makes this community happier than talking to people who love watches as much as they do.