Geneva Watch Days Reflects a Fragmented Watch Industry in Transformation

For a few days, Geneva’s watch scene is being shaped less by the industry’s heavyweight brands than by its smaller players. The sixth Geneva Watch Days brings 71 exhibitors into hotels around the lakefront, with the event running from Wednesday through Sunday.

The gathering began in 2020, when a group of manufacturers assembled around Bulgari after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the two major fairs in Basel and Geneva. It has since secured a place in an increasingly crowded international watch calendar.

This year’s edition presents the sector’s transformation particularly clearly. Independent watchmakers and artisans have become a major attraction for collectors, while microbrands are breathing life into a middle market that large houses have increasingly left aside.

The contrast with Watches and Wonders, the industry’s major spring showcase, is striking. In Geneva this week, attention is directed toward the smaller names. The major institutional houses, meanwhile, are appearing outside the official program, acting as what Jean-Frédéric Dufour, Rolex’s president and a former president of the Watches and Wonders foundation, called “pirates.”

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