Time to Watches takes place just a stones-throw away from this year’s Watches and Wonders in Geneva, and there will be an expanded line-up of over 70 independent brands presenting at the show.
Newcomers include Krayon, Beauregard, Breva Geneve, Guebly, Laine, Lorige, Ming and Taos.
Time to Watches runs simultaneously with Watches and Wonders in Geneva from April 1-6, 2025 and takes place in Villa Sarasin, which is just one minute’s walk from the main Palexpo exhibition centre.
The villa is a historic mansion, built in 1833, that is located in the heart of Geneva’s Sarasin Park.
The full exhibitor list for 2025 is: Adriatica, Aerowatch, Airain, Äonic, Appella, Awake, Azimuth, Ba111od, Bauhaus, Beaubleu, Beauregard, Benrus, Berney, Blackout, Breva Geneve, Briston, Carl Suchy & Söhne, Charles Girardier, Cime, Creations By Wire Art, De Rijke & Co, Dennison Watch, Done Watches, Eagle Eye Watches, Elka Watch Co., Exaequo – Melting Watch, Fears, Formex, Genius Watches, Guebly, H992 Architecte Horloger, Herbelin, Jowissa, Krayon, Laco, Laine, Lebois & Co, Lorige, Marathon Watch, Mathey-Tissot, Milus, Ming, Nivada Grenchen, Ollech & Wajs, Omnis, Paulin, Pragma, Ralf Tech, Rapport London, Reservoir, Robot Watch, Rosenbusch Watches, Ruhla 1929, Schaefer & Companions, Sinclair Harding, Sinn Spezialuhren, Squale, Taos, Tsar Bomba Watches, Utinam Besançon, Vulcain, White Star Watch, Wolf, Youhr, Zannetti Independent Watchmaker and Zeppelin.
Time to Watches has no formal association with Watches and Wonders, and its relocation to neighbour the main show is likely to irritate its organisers.
Last year, Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour, who was speaking as head of the organising board of Watches and Wonders, labelled brands coat-tailing on the global show at satellite events like Time to Watches and those clustering in hotel suites down by Lake Geneva as “pirates”.
Journalists, who in many cases (including WatchPro‘s team) have their flights and hotel bills paid for by Watches and Wonders, are targeted by the brands showing around other parts of Geneva to get a bit of a free ride from the investment made in the global coverage that flows from hosting thousands of reporters from around the world.
“We call them pirates. But that’s okay,” Mr Dufour said ahead of the shows in 2024.
If the rebuke was designed to deflate the independents exhibiting around the city, it failed.
The buzz at hotels like the Beau Rivage seemed to be even more excitable after the Rolex chief’s comments.