This April tens of thousands of watch enthusiasts will go to Geneva to attend the public days of the world’s biggest watch show, Watches & Wonders. We’ve written about why you should consider watch shows as we think they are the best places for watch lovers to see a large number of watches in one place and explore what types of watch they like best.
Watch shows aren’t the only opportunity to learn more about watches and the brands that make them; it’s also possible to travel to see how watches are made, visit museums focussed on watches and the history of horology, and more!
Taking a Watch-related Vacation
At first it might seem a surprising idea, to go somewhere specifically to explore the world of watches and learn more about them. We don’t think it’s unusual at all; we think that it’s the same as travelling to see a sports event, visit an art exhibition or gallery, or pursue any other kind of hobby. The principle is the same; you go somewhere to see some objects, an exhibition, or learn some things you can’t do elsewhere.
Where to go on a Watch Vacation?
The watch world is huge and varied, with Microbrands popping up in just about every country, and new ones starting every month. This is because watch design can now be done from anywhere. The manufacturing, assembly and testing of watches is still done in a very small number of countries. This is because of the large number of parts that go into event the simplest mechanical watch, the special techniques need to regulate them (set the time properly), and the various testing standards used in the industry such as COSC and METAS only applying to watches made in Switzerland. We also have terms that watch buyers come to expect such as “Swiss Made” and “Made in Japan” as terms of quality, and obviously the watches need to be made there to qualify.
This means that the primary place to go on vacation to learn more about watches are Switzerland, Germany, Japan and, maybe surprisingly, the United Kingdom and France. Hundreds of brands are based and manufactured in Switzerland, there are at least five large museums, and the there is opportunity to visit factories ranging from huge producers like Omega and IWC to the tiny workshops of independent watchmakers like Arkriva or Kari Voutilainen.
The German town of Glashutte is famous for watchmaking and now features a museum and the workshops of multiple brands. Many visitors remark what a great place it is to go to learn more about watchmaking, and the story of the town’s history is remarkable.
In Japan, it is possible to go the Seiko Museum in Tokyo and visit the facilities of Seiko, Citizen and Grand Seiko. The country has also seen an increase in independent watchmakers and it is possible to visit their small workshops.
In the United Kingdom, there are many young watch brands working hard to design great watches for their fans. Most of these watches are still manufactured overseas. Some are assembled in the UK and the company Bremont has built a dedicated manufacturing and assembly facility in Henley-on-Thames near London, called The Wing. A visit here is a great chance to hear the history of the brand and learn more about which components they are able to make in the UK.
Brands such as Marloe Watches, Zero West, Elliot Brown, and Fears Watches have showrooms near their headquarters. Mr. Jones Watches is headquartered in a South London workshop and a visit here gives you a fantastic insight into their specialised pad-printing techniques.
London has three interesting horologically-related museums to visit; the home of Global timekeeping, the Royal Greenwich Observatory, The Clockmakers Museum at the Science Museum in Kensington, which is a history of the development of time-keeping in Europe, and The Clockworks Museum of Electric timekeeping in South London. A couple of hours North of London is the Museum of Timekeeping near Nottingham, which features the UK’s most prestigious collection of clocks and watches, numbering over 10,000. The Watch Collectors’ Club run events to take members to these museums, so keep your eyes out for the next one later this year.
Visiting Boutiques around the world
Most of the to watch brands around the world either have their own boutiques or use well-regarded retail partners to sell their watches to the public. That means in most big cities there are a few watch brand boutiques to visit, or a jeweller who carries a range of watch brands. These are great places to spend some time exploring new watches while you are on vacation. Cities such as London, Paris, New York, Macao, Hong Kong, and Dubai have been historical hubs of watch buying, they have very large numbers of boutiques, and may feature distribution points for smaller brands, especially High Horology brands.
Watch shows and Fairs
These are a great place to go to see loads of watches, meet your favourite brands, and meet other watch enthusiasts. This year there will be a total of five in the UK, including one run by The Watch Collectors’ Club in November in Manchester. There are many in the United States, including three run by Windup in different cities. Germany hosts a few large fairs, and as mentioned, the largest is in Geneva in April, Watches and Wonders. The Swiss also host Geneva Watch days at the end of summer. If you are going to a show or fair, you can also look up local clubs to see if they are holding any events where you could meet other watch lovers.
After our trip with members this year, we wrote The Ultimate Guide to Watches and Wonders to help you make the most of that show in future.
How to take a watch-related vacation
In the simplest sense you can just get on a plane to Geneva or Basel, London or New York, and find plenty to do that’s watch related. However we recommend a bit more planning to put together a fantastic trip. If you’re going to Switzerland, it’s worth emailing your favourite brands to see if it might be possible to visit their “Manufacture” or factory. Many of them are set up to give tours, even the smaller brands. We also recommend emailing boutiques in a city you are visiting to make an appointment. Some are appointment only but are more than happy to see you. Giving them advance notice often means they will get some of their rare and more special pieces out of the safe ready for your arrival, and you might not think to ask to see them otherwise!
If you are coming to London make sure you check out our Watch Events calendar to see if you can join us for one, and don’t hesistate to get in touch directly if you’ve got any questions about what to see here.
Finally, you could see if any watch clubs are running group trips. The Watch Collectors’ Club is taking members to the Watches and Wonders show in Geneva in April 2025, and are arranging visits to different watch brands headquarters in the UK over the course of the year. Next year we plan to increase the number of trips to visit watch brands overseas, returning to Switzerland but also likely attending the fairs in Dubai and Germany.