by Carol Besler
Watches and Wonders, the highlight of “watch week” celebrations held in Geneva from April 14 to 20, is now firmly established as the most important event in the luxury watch world. It has fully replaced Baselworld, which ended with a whimper in 2019, as the spring meeting point for all things watches. But there are some big differences between the two venues. The enthusiasm for the Geneva event now matches the intense “pilgrims-to-mecca” aura surrounding Baselworld, with similar attendance and coverage stats: 60,000 (+9%) people visited Watches and Wonders this year; the city clocked 50,000 hotel nights to visitors; 25,000 tickets were sold over the three public days (+9%); 1,750 journalists (+9%) and 6,000 retailers attended; and more than 10,000 people took over the city center throughout the week, attending concerts, educational installations and other watch-related activities. Social media coverage reached nearly a billion people (900 million) (+29%) during the week, with the hashtag #watchesandwonders2026. There were also satellite shows in the city, including Time to Watches, with 87 brands, many of them small micro-brands.
In other key ways, Geneva watch week is not like Baselworld, which had a reputation for gouging exhibitors, while the city’s hospitality segment was seen to participate in the extortion by in some cases tripling or quadrupling hotel, restaurant and taxi rates. The Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation (WWGF), on the other hand, is a non-profit foundation based in Geneva. “There’s no profit,” says Cyrille Vigneron, chairman of the board of WWGF, and former president and CEO of Cartier. “It’s organized by the brands, for the brands. If there is a surplus, it is redistributed back to the exhibitors.”
The city, including its hospitality sector, is so far cooperating in terms of accommodating the crowds and increasing services, while keeping prices reasonable. “The Canton (region) of Geneva has been very supportive,” says Vigneron. “They are very cooperative in making adjustments in transportation and logistics for example. They don’t charge any kind of fee for extra services during the fair because they know it’s good for the city. Most cities have to brand themselves, and Geneva is now firmly the center of luxury watchmaking. When Basel lost Baselworld, I think it lost little bit of attention as a city, which is now known mostly for Art Basel.”
As for hotel rates, he comments, “It’s a free market, but we have open discussions with the local hospitality sector, and we feel it’s in our common long-term interest to make good business but stay reasonable, because if at some point it becomes too expensive for visitors and brands, people will just stop coming.”
Although the main activity is the introduction of new watches, Geneva watch week is tightly focused not on commerce but on watchmaking culture. As such, it is open to a wide range of brands, including 26 independent watchmaking brands in the Carré des Horlogers section, and another 15 in the Mezzanine. “Watches and Wonders is open to everyone who has something interesting to say about watchmaking,” says WWGF CEO Matthieu Humair. “We make sure there is a diversity of exhibitors. We don’t want hot brands and cold brands, we want traffic everywhere.”
In terms of attendance, the goal, says Humair, is to ensure the show is accessible to everyone. “It’s a cultural event, designed to celebrate watchmaking, so it’s important to have public days, when anyone can come. We want to avoid being too exclusive. We want to invite everyone to appreciate the beauty of watchmaking, so the entire city celebrates. The brands are participating in something very festive.”
LVMH and Richemont brands are well represented at the fair, but one group that has yet to make an appearance at Watches and Wonders is the Swatch Group. When it pulled its 18 brands out of Baselworld in 2018, citing high costs, it was the beginning of the end of that fair.“They [Swatch Group] have certainly been invited,” says Humair. “Three years ago, we made a proactive visit to them. The answer was not that positive. But we let them know they are welcome any time.”
With 65 exhibitors now participating in Watches and Wonders, the addition of the Swatch Group, should it decide to join, would represent a major growth for the show. Could it accommodate the expansion? “Having 100 exhibitors would be difficult,” says Humair. “We could take 15% to 20% more, but if there were more than 100 brands, I don’t think that would work. It would have to go much longer, and people are not so much willing to go two weeks.” Watches and Wonders 2027 will be held next spring.
See Watches and Wonders 2026 Part 2 for my top ten product launches and trend report.
