Watches and Wonders is the world’s largest watch show, and we had a fantastic weekend in Geneva taking our Members to see the show, enjoy the city, and hang out with watch people. It was a fantastic success. This Blog Post is all about what to expect in the City during the week and weekend. We paid for ourselves to attend and our we hosted our members as part of their membership of The Watch Collectors’ Club. We did not receive any free tickets or paid hospitality from any of the shows or venues mentioned here. You can find out more about joining the Club here.
What to expect from Watches and Wonders
Watches and Wonders is the main show in Geneva with 54 brands exhibiting in 2024 and 49,000 people attending over the week. The days for VIPs, Press and Retailers are Tuesday to Friday, and the days for Public entry are Saturday Sunday and Monday. Tickets are required for these days.
The show has released details of this year’s attendance and according to the Timekeepers Club there were 19,000 tickets sold, 25% of which were sold to under-25s, and the average age of attendees was 35!
What is the experience like?
It is like nothing else in the watch world. The show is built like a cross between a luxury goods mall and a brand new airport. It’s huge, and creates the perfect atmosphere. Every brand has a different stand, and the big ones are enormous, entire buildings built within the mall to host their watches and meeting rooms for their brand presentations and touch and feel sessions. Some brands have big displays with pyrotechnics, videos etc, which are impressive. It’s fun to enjoy the stands and see how the brands present themselves. The smaller stands are more intimate but varied across the different brands.
What do you do there?
The main thing is to see the brand stands and the watches on display, mostly behind glass, but not in some cases. Some of the display cases themselves are extremely high tech. We particularly liked Roger Dubois “flying” watches this time. Some brands have educational displays for you to read.
You can book two additional things: Stand/Booth Tours and Touch and Feel Sessions. These are available from some brands and not others. If you have a relationship with an Authorised Dealer or a Brand you can ask to book these sessions before you arrive. This is the best option. If you don’t have relationships but are interested in these activities (you should be!) then you can go to the show information desks and book through them. You can also book tours of the show from expert guides that will introduce the brands to you and answer your questions about them and the show.
All bookings have to be done early in the day as we were told that all spaces were filled before 9:30AM on the Saturday and Sunday. You could not book in the app this year.
There is a daily series of talks in the main auditorium and the Lab. the range of topics is interesting and while we only had time to see one, it was worth listening to. These areas are a good way to get a break from walking around! The Lab area featured some really interesting new technologies.
Stand Tours
We had stand tours from Grand Seiko, Piaget, Jaeger Le Coultre and Bell and Ross. All were very interesting introductions to the Novelties for the year and the broader range of the brands. They were conducted by different members of staff from the brands including people from the Head Office, and if they couldn’t answer a question they would go and find someone who could.
Touch and Feel Sessions
These are an amazing experience. You get to try on and handle all the novelties from the brand, often in one of their private meeting rooms and they will give you a coffee or drink of your choice. We got the full experience from Chopard, Panerai, Jaeger LeCoultre and Bell and Ross, and while they were all very different, our group had a fantastic time at each. Some brands also hosted Touch and Feel sessions without the need for booking, such as Bremont.
Many brands on the smaller stands have their watches available to try on. It is not possible to know in advance which brands, so ask when you visit the brands you are most interested in.
Merchandise
Some brands give out merchandise, ranging from catalogues to tote bags to hats and stickers. Many guests enjoyed collecting the different merchandise, although some of it was only available to those booked on Touch and Feel Sessions. We suspect that if you wanted to collect catalogues, every brand will have those available somewhere if you ask.
Practicalities – a guide to your visit
The first thing to know is that transport to the show is included in the ticket. They run 6 shuttle bus routes across the city. If they are not running one with a pickup at your accommodation you can simply go to the stop at the hotel nearest to where you are staying. These shuttles run from 7:00AM to 10:00AM in the morning and leave from the show from 4:30PM to 7:00PM in the evening. The city also provides free public transport cards for all tourists, so get one of those from your accommodation.
The show was busiest from 12:00PM – 3:00PM and least busy after 4:00PM. We actually recommend going later if you can, however some brands had run out of merchandise later on in the day.
Ticketing and Security are easy. The app contains your ticket and you have to show this at entry and on certain stands to visit them. Make sure your phone is charged! Printouts of the tickets were also accepted. IDs were not requested at any point despite the warnings from the organisers that it was necessary. The X-ray machines were very well organised and quick, and there are two large cloakrooms at each entrance after the ticket gates, available to use for free.
Temperature; the show halls were cool in the morning and got warm in the afternoon when it was busiest, but overall were very well managed. We left our jackets in the cloakroom.
The crowd; mostly European, we thought there might be more visitors from America and Asia, but didn’t hear many accents from those regions. There were a high number of women attending which was great; and many families too, who all seemed to be Swiss, unsurprisingly. Overall people were well dressed but there was no dress code or judgement from anyone at the show or the brands.
Accessibility and Rest Areas; there is accessibility provision from the cloakrooms who can provide wheelchairs. The hall is mostly flat and the one level change has escalators. There are chairs and places to sit down everywhere, more than any other event I’ve attended! The toilets require a long walk and descent of a few flights of stairs. There are plenty of them though.
Getting around: the show is large. It takes around 10-12 minutes to walk from the main entrance to the far end of the show. There are maps on the app and on the walls all over the place. It’s easy to find the brands you are interested in.
Food and drink: there are cafes everywhere in the show, literally in every aisle and the smaller rooms. These serve a full range of drinks and a reasonable menu of food. It was good but expensive, which is not surprising, as all food and drink is expensive in Switzerland. Lunch was 20CHF for a pasta main course, 5CHF for water and 4CHF for coffee. There are two self-service cafes serving sandwiches. They are quite hard to find and the price is still 15CHF for a sandwich or salad and a drink.
Buying Watches: we heard that a handful of brands were able to sell watches directly at the show, but this is not the norm. If you like something we recommend asking the brand if there is anyone there from your country, and having a conversation with them about where best to purchase the watch. They might even be able to reserve it for you then and there if they have the right contacts.
What to know about visiting Geneva during this time
Firstly, there are three other watch shows on in the City! We visited two of them; Time to Watches, and the brands at the Hotel Beau Rivage.
Time to Watches
This is a large watch show held at another conference centre in the City. It is 10CHF to get in and featured 45 brands in 2024, mostly smaller and independent brands from across the world, including High Horology and Affordable timepieces. There were also Clockmakers and Accessory brands here. At this show it was possible to try on watches at every stand, and in most cases meet the brand founders or designers or senior management. It was a great place to experience a lot of watches and see brands you’ve never heard of. We were there on the Friday and it was quiet. There is a good café on site.
This show runs from Wednesday to Sunday and features an additional brand marketplace on the Sunday for even more brands. They run shuttles from the main Watches and Wonders show for free and from the Hotel Beau Rivage. You can book these via their phone line, it’s very convenient.
The brands at the Hotel Beau Rivage
The Hotel Beau Rivage is a luxury hotel on the lakeside. This is not an organised show and there are no tickets. Instead the brands take over different rooms and suites and you visit whoever you like. For some of them you must make an appointment. There is no central list of attending brands, they each advertise their presence separately. Many are Direct to Consumer brands. We suggest asking brands directly if they will be there or searching their social media. The atmosphere was fun and excitable and it was all a bit crazy, especially given the high value of many of the timepieces. It is well worth a visit.
The Patek Philippe Museum
We visited this museum and it was incredible. Well worth a visit while on a watch-themed trip to Geneva. Entry is only 10 CHF and there are audioguides. You can book private tours but must do this well in advance. They can be for up to 20 people. This was one of the best museums I’ve ever visited, of any kind. It is probably the world’s most comprehensive watch collection; for watches before 1850, they are from all over Europe. After 1850 they are all made by Patek Philippe. It is truly extraordinary to see.
The City is Busy!
Hotels are expensive in Geneva so book early. We also recommend making restaurant reservations. We visited the excellent Restaurant Auberge de Saviese for a traditional Swiss meal. It was good fun and good value, and they dealt with our large group superbly. We managed to find a hotel room for under £200GBP a night but it was outside the city centre and we had to take taxis home at night which are expensive. Uber did not work for our hotel location but does work in the City Centre.
Come to Geneva with The Watch Collectors’ Club
We hope that this guide is helpful for anyone wishing to visit the shows in Geneva in future. The Watch Collectors’ Club will likely be returning to host our members next year; arranging touch and feel sessions at the main show, appointments at the smaller shows, and restaurant reservations so that like watch enthusiasts can enjoy their evenings together. Our annual Memberships include this trip, events, partner discounts and more. If you have any questions about our trip of the event not covered here, please get in touch with us directly!