The 7 Best Watch Events for Serious Collectors
In about three weeks’ time, the fourth edition of Geneva Watch Days will draw hundreds, if not thousands, of collectors to the Swiss city for five days of watch presentations, horological talks and parties.
Founded in 2020 by six brands—Breitling, Bulgari, De Bethune, Girard-Perregaux, H. Moser & Cie., and MB&F—the casual and decentralized event has in just four years become one of luxury watchmaking’s must-attend gatherings.
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Asher Rapkin, co-founder and CEO of Collective Horology, a retailer of independent brands based in Southern California, contrasted the relaxed ambience of Geneva Watch Days, which runs this year from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2, with the formality of Watches and Wonders Geneva, a spring trade fair that opens its doors to the public for a couple days once retailers and press have mostly come and gone.
“The original intention of Geneva Watch Days was to serve clients and collectors, and that’s very much the inverse of Watches and Wonders, which is industry focused,” Rapkin says. “Since 2020, it has become a global epicenter. Collectors from all around the world come in. Especially in the age of Instagram, when we know each other only by each other’s handles, it’s a great place to connect.”
That got us thinking: What other events on the watch calendar should every serious collector attend at least once, and why? Below, we offer a carefully vetted list.
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RollieFest, Every Other September in New York City (or when its founder has time to plan it)
Founded by Geoff Hess, Sotheby’s global head of watches, this two-day invitation-only gathering of the watch world’s heaviest hitters has been described as “the Super Bowl for Watch nerds.” The 2023 event welcomed 175 attendees from 17 countries, almost all of them culled from Hess’s personal Rolodex—so to speak. The point of the gathering, besides geeking out over watches at iconic locations like the American Museum of Natural History and the Rainbow Room? The networking, obviously.
“RollieFest is a once-in-a-lifetime watch experience that every collector should attend,” Henry Flores, founder of the Classic Watch Club (CWC) in New York, told Robb Report. “Despite the name, RollieFest celebrates all brands and most are on full display on dozens of white cloth tables. Thirty-one of the attendees in 2023 were CWC members and we had a blast.”
Watches and Wonders Geneva, Late March/Early April
Despite the industry focus of this annual event, which takes place at the Palexpo convention center in Geneva every spring, there is no better place to appreciate the breadth and depth of the luxury watch trade than during Watches and Wonders week. The 2024 fair opened to the public for three days, which were chock full of exhibitions, lectures and citywide events geared to horology lovers.
“It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year,” Yoni Ben-Yehuda, head of watches at luxury retailer Material Good, says. “Sometimes you forget there are humans behind these watches, giving life to these creations and they get to share them with the world. One of the things that draws people to these watch events and watch shows is you get to touch and feel the watches and also reconnect with the people. The watch industry, though big and mighty, is a relatively small place and a lot of us know each other.”
Henry Flores, of the Classic Watch Club in New York City, attended the 2023 edition of Watches and Wonders with friends from the club, and recommends the experience for any collector, with one caveat: You must do it “in combination with setting up tours at the watch manufacturers,” either in Geneva or in the Vallée de Joux, where brands like Audemars Piguet and Jaeger-LeCoultre often welcome collectors.
Dubai Watch Week, Late November
Dubai Watch Week, founded in 2015 by the Seddiqi family of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, the region’s biggest and most influential watch retailer, “is the best watch event in the world, by far,” Massena says.
“It’s the Davos of watches,” he says of the biennial event, which last occurred in 2023. “Everybody is there, but it’s not like Watches and Wonders. It’s a bit like Geneva Watch Days to the power of 20. They have main events, you have a lot of talks. Last year they had a talk by Stephen McDonald, the watchmaker who did the movement for MB&F. It’s on YouTube—it’s the best 20 minutes on watches I’ve ever heard.”
Yoni Ben-Yehuda said that even with all the important education Dubai Watch Week offers, the socializing is even better. “The Seddiqi family does an incredible job of concentrating the great brands they partner with and a lot of the collectors on that side on the globe,” he says. “It has become quite a spectacle.”
Geneva Watch Days, Late August
Staged for the first time in 2020, during the first summer of the Covid pandemic, after Baselworld and Watches and Wonders were canceled, this decentralized event does, indeed, have a common space: the Rotonde du Mont-Blanc, a pavilion located across from the Beau-Rivage Hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva.
“There are common things happening under the tent like talks, parties, exhibits, press events,” says William Massena of Massena Lab. “And then everybody is exhibiting in their own space: in a suite, in a boutique, or five to six people in a big room. It’s very cool and laid back—like the last negroni before things get serious in the fall.”
New York Watch Week, Late October
The ninth edition of WatchTime New York, which takes place Oct. 18-20 at Gotham Hall in midtown Manhattan, serves as the anchor event of what’s become a de facto New York City watch weekend. That’s especially true this year, now that the popular Windup Watch Fair, home to more accessibly priced brands, will be located practically around the corner, at Center415 on Fifth Avenue.
“WatchTime is an incredible opportunity for collectors,” Asher Rapkin, co-founder and CEO of Collective Horology, a retailer of independent brands based in Southern California, says. “Thirty of the biggest independent brands in the world are there. You can walk up to the Voutilainen booth and meet Kari [Voutilainen]. For people who love independents because they’re the ones making the watches, this is your best opportunity to meet them.”
Rapkin also makes the case for WindUp, even for collectors who pride themselves on their expensive tastes. “Collective is a sponsor of Windup New York; this year we’re bringing some very high-end bespoke watchmaking with Garrick, whose watches range from $6,500 to $35,000, all bespoke and handmade in England,” he says.
“Windup is single A and double A baseball for the major leagues,” he adds. “It’s where a lot of watch brands get started, grow their audience and continue to grow their clients. If you’re a high complications Patek guy or a big independents guy and feel that creativity is one of the things you champion in watch collecting, then you need to go to WindUp because the brands there trade exclusively in creativity.”
In addition to the fairs, New York watch week also gives collectors an opportunity to get up close and personal with the timepieces nominated for the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie, which will be exhibited at Watches of Switzerland’s flagship showroom in Soho from Oct. 18-21. “We actually fly additional salespeople into New York in order to support our stores, to make sure we have people trained up on the watches,” David Hurley, deputy CEO of Watches of Switzerland, tells Robb Report.
Parma Fair, Spring and Fall in Parma, Italy
Calling all vintage collectors! Antique shows with a sizable watch presence can become key annual events for serious collectors. The Fiere di Parma takes place in the spring and fall in Parma, in the heart of northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, famed for its prosciutto. The fall 2024 event is scheduled for Oct. 12-20. The more savvy collectors with an eye for adventure will be there hunting among the antique booths for those elusive timepieces that—for reasons not fully understood—often are found in Italy…especially Northern Italy, often Florence, but also in Parma during fair week.
Miami Beach Antique Show, Early Janurary
Another great antiques fair with known watch excellence is the Miami Beach Antique Show, a mecca for the top vintage watch specialists, including John Reardon of Collectability, Eric Ku and Eric Wind.
Just don’t go expecting to find watches for a steal. “There are no deals,” Massena says. “You pay the market price or what the dealer says is the market. But it’s a place where you can see a lot of watches. This is where you go to see the trends in vintage.”
New Watch Events to Keep an Eye On
The importance of community in the watch world is not lost on retailers, many of whom have teamed up with their neighbors to create city events geared to watch lovers. One of the originals, Madison Avenue Watch Week in New York City, is back in 2025 for its 11th year.
In a similar vein, the inaugural Watch Week Aspen kicked off this year in downtown Aspen. Attendees had the opportunity to meet watchmakers, see exclusive products and listen to talks, like the one Ben-Yehuda hosted at the Audemars Piguet boutique.
And come mid-October, Hour Glass, the influential Singapore retailer, is making a bid to create its own Dubai Watch Week-style event with the debut of I Am Watch, “an intimately scaled four-day program in tropical Singapore in a relaxed and casual setting,” according to the website.
