The Watch Collectors’ Club held 41 in-person events this year and 12 online. We’re delighted to have run so many, ranging from our humble evening meetups at a bar to factory visits, car shows, and exclusive brand showcases. We exist to help you explore the watch world through fun, friendly and inclusive events, and help you find new ways to see, talk about and share our watches. Here are a few highlights of 2023’s events calendar.

A Selection of watches on the table at one of our Evening Meetups this year.Brunch Meetups

This year we introduced brunch Meetups for those who can’t make it along to our evening Meetups or want to try a different and relaxed place to talk about watches. These proved a great success. We usually meet early enough on a Saturday so people can still have a full afternoon. Sometimes they even went on to other watch events! Talking about and looking at watches over a meal is a great way to share your passion and learn more from other enthusiasts. We’ll be running brunches almost every month in Central London in 2024.

Sharing our watches over coffee and orange juice at our Brunch Meetups this year.Bremont Wing Trip

Bremont gave us a tour of their factory near Henley, Oxfordshire in February. This is the only place in the UK you can really see how watches are made and assembled. We saw their fantastic range of Limited Edition watches, talked to their machinists about bridge and case manufacture, and learned about assembly processes and quality control. We will be returning on a Members only trip in early 2024, so sign up if you’d like to join us!

Clerkenwell Design Week

Our biggest event of the year was an evening exploring British Watch Design as part of Clerkenwell Design Week with three fantastic brands; Fears Watches, Schofield, and Studio Underdog. It was a huge success on a beautiful evening at the heart of a buzzing design festival. Hearing directly from the designers themselves gave us incredible insight into how new watches come to be.

Our buzzing evening celebrating British Watch Design at Clerkenwell Deisgn Week in May 2023TAG Heuer Flagship Event

Our first event with this global super brand was a celebration of the TAG Heuer Carrera, a racing-inspired chronograph celebrating it’s 60th anniversary. The event was popular and the staff were awesome. In such a big boutique there is always a great range of watches to explore.

The TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox as seen at our event in their flagship boutique in LondonBulgari Global Showcase

We were given an exclusive slot at their global showcase event in October, as they brought their finest and fanciest timepieces to London. We marvelled at their precision and complexity, trying on many award-winning watches. We also got to see the fine jewellery on display outside the cases. It was an incredible experience we hope to repeat in future years.

Watchpro Salon Watch Show

The annual Watchpro Salon is a good chance to see a huge number of watches in one place, and this year did not disappoint. There were fascinating talks, a fun bar, and the chance to talk to watch designers directly. We were there for the cocktail party and the Saturday, plus we even held a brunch meetup beforehand. It was great to see so many of our members exploring the show.

The Bulgari Octofinissimo Perpetual Calendar Retrograde in Plantinum as seen at our Showcase EventLange at Hampton Court

Watches and cars are complementary passions for many people, and it’s often the case that a car show is sponsored by a watch brand. We’ve been able the to take our members to two shows near London, and this year for the first time Lange und Sohne invited us to the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court. It was a fantastic afternoon in beautiful weather with some stunning cars and watches. We hope to run more car-related events next year, so keep an eye on our events page.

The Lange 1 GMT in White Gold as seen at the Concours of Elegance car show.Conclusion

We’re here to run as many different kinds of watch focussed event as we can. If you can think of any others we should be doing, let us know! We’re always open to new ideas and are happy to experiment. We want to do more outside of London so if you want us to organise one near you, get in touch. Keep an eye on our social media and our website for 2024, and we hope to see you at an event soon!