Spring is an exciting season for watch collecting because it marks the time of year when many of our favorite luxury watch brands reveal their newest offerings. For over a century, the biggest trade show in the industry was Baselworld. However, following a tumultuous few years for the organization, most of the industry’s top brands have either decided to host their own events or participate in Watches & Wonders Geneva, formerly the “Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie” – aka SIHH.
The up-and-coming Watches & Wonders Geneva tradeshow was rebranded in October 2019 and is quickly becoming the industry’s go-to tradeshow. The inaugural show adopted an entirely digital format due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a hybrid in-person/digital concept in 2022. The event was considered a success and is returning in 2024 to both in-person and digital attendees. That’s quite the transformation since 2019. Let’s get into what we can expect at Watches & Wonders 2023.
Watches & Wonders Geneva
Watches and Wonders Geneva 2024 Key Details:
– What: Annual luxury watch tradeshow featuring 48 of the industry’s top brands
– When: April 9th, 2024 – April 15th, 2024
– Where: Geneva, Switzerland
When Is Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024?
As is customary for luxury watch industry trade shows, the 2024 edition of Watches & Wonders Geneva will take place in the early springtime, with the event running an entire week. While the original SIHH show traditionally took place in January, the rebranded Watches & Wonders Geneva event was always supposed to be in the early spring and was originally intended to be held in successive weeks with Baselworld.
According to the newly formed Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation (WWGF), which is organizing the event, Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024 will take place from April 9th until April 15th, in the halls of Geneva’s Palexpo convention center. And for the first time since the show’s inception after the unfortunate fall of the long-running Baselworld trade show, Watches & Wonders will be open to the public. Luxury watch enthusiasts can purchase public admission tickets to attend the last three days of the show on April 13th, and Sunday, April 15th. Attendees get a chance to view newly released timepieces they might want to buy like the newly released Rolex watches for sale.
Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024 Exhibiting Brands
Forty-eight brands are slated to showcase their newest offerings at this year’s show, up from last year’s lineup of 55 brands. Some of companies presenting at this year’s Watches & Wonders 2024 include:
Exhibiting Brands:
- A. Lange & Söhne
- Alpina
- Angelus
- Arnold & Son
- Baume & Mercier
- Beauregard
- Bell & Ross
- Bremont
- Cartier
- Chanel
- Charles Zuber
- Charriol
- Chopard
- Chronoswiss
- Cyrus Genève
- Czapek & Cie.
- Eberhard & Co
- Ferdinand Berthoud
- Frederique Constant
- Gerald Charles
- Grand Seiko
- Grönefeld
- H. Moser & Cie.
- Hautlence
- Hermès
- Hublot
- Hysek
- IWC Schaffhausen
- Jaeger-LeCoultre
- Laurent Ferrier
- Louis Moinet
- Montblanc
- NOMOS Glashutte
- NORQAIN
- Oris
- Panerai
- Parmigiani Fleurier
- Patek Philippe
- Pequignet
- Piaget
- Raymond Weil
- Rebellion Timepieces
- Ressence
- Roger Dubuis
- Rolex
- Rudis Sylva
- Speake-Marin
- TAG Heuer
- Trilobe
- Tudor
- U-Boat
- Ulysse Nardin
- Vacheron Constantin
- Van Cleef & Arpels
- Zenith
What is the Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation?
A new foundation was formed to help manage the blossoming tradeshow, hot on the heels of the success of the last few Watches & Wonders shows and despite many pandemic-related roadblocks. The not-for-profit Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation – aka WWGF – was formed in September 2022 by Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Richemont. Their mission remains true to the groundwork upon which the Watches & Wonders show was created, to celebrate all facets of watchmaking by organizing watch and jewelry tradeshows in Geneva and throughout the rest of the world, both in-person and digitally.
Rolex’s CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour will manage the foundation as Chairman alongside Emmanuel Perrin from Richemont as Vice Chairman. The CEO of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, Matthieu Humair, will act as CEO of the WWGF. The Exhibiting Committee organizing the annual show includes representatives from the rest of the participating companies within the new foundation.
We can expect a lot from the new foundation as attendance at Watches & Wonders grows year after year. Anticipation is high as the 2024 show looms.
While no one knows exactly what will be released, there are some collectors who are already coming out with 2024 Watches & Wonders predictions. I personally view the Rolex 124060 as a great starter watch for those folks who have a limited budget but want to get into a quality timepiece. I would love to see this model come in more options. More colors, sizes, and bracelet types.
