Everything you need to know about Geneva Watch Days 2024
Jamie WeissSince its establishment in 2020, Geneva Watch Days has emerged as one of the most important events on the watch industry’s calendar: a welcome third act following on from LVMH Watch Week at the start of the year and Watches and Wonders Geneva in April (as well as all the “Geneva Watch Week” exhibitions that surround Watches and Wonders). The fifth instalment of Geneva Watch Days in 2024 promises to be the biggest edition of the fair yet, with 53 brands set to participate – proving that GWD is here to stay.
Naturally, the Time+Tide team will be on the ground in Geneva to bring you all the latest news and releases, so stay tuned for our Geneva Watch Days coverage! This article will be frequently updated with new information as more news drops, so bookmark this page if you want to stay up to date with all things Geneva Watch Days.
When is Geneva Watch Days 2024?
The next edition of Geneva Watch Days will be held from Thursday the 29th of August to Monday the 2nd of September. This is an ideal time of year to visit Geneva, by the way: it’s still fairly warm and sunny, with Switzerland’s beautiful alpine landscapes resplendent and mild.
What’s new for the 2024 edition
Not only will the 2024 edition of Geneva Watch Days feature more brands than ever before, but the main Pavilion will look a bit different too. Firstly, it’ll feature a new wing dedicated to the fair’s “cultural partners” – the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), Ecole d’Horlogerie de Genève, Horopedia, and The Watch Library – called the “Culture Club”, which will be focused on watch education.
View this post on Instagram
Additionally, the fair will now feature a dedicated content creation studio called the “Glass Box”, just a few steps away from the main Pavilion, where the public can attend talks and see content being produced live on-site. (Sounds like GWD has taken notes from our Melbourne Discovery Studio – in any case, expect to see us in the Glass Box during the fair!)
2024 also saw Geneva Watch Day’s organisers host a satellite teaser event on the 4th of June in Zürich called “24 Hours in Zürich”, which shared a sneak peek of the upcoming fair. Zürich is Switzerland’s biggest city but has never been as horologically prominent as Basel or Geneva – perhaps a reflection of the Swiss watch industry’s consolidation in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, the Romandie.
Geneva Watch Days history and background
As I mentioned at the start of this article, Geneva Watch Days was launched in 2020 – a year that would prove to be a significant turning point for the Swiss watch industry. Baselworld, formerly the watch industry’s leading trade fair, was forced to cancel its 2020 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Baselworld has since been postponed indefinitely (read Wei Koh’s brilliant article on the topic here), with major brands jumping ship and choosing to exhibit at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) – which is now called Watches and Wonders and has emerged post-COVID as the undisputed leading watch fair.
However, eight brands – Breitling, Bulgari, De Bethune, Girard-Perregaux, H. Moser & Cie and MB&F – were still determined to exhibit something in 2020, and so came up with a decentralized and self-managed multi-brand watch event: Geneva Watch Days. The success of this initial event saw GWD return in 2021, and every year since, expanding the roster of brands and other exhibitors for each edition. Part of GWD’s success is its slightly maverick, independent-focused nature: it’s a genuine alternative to the traditional fair format.
One of the big points of difference Geneva Watch Days has is that it’s significantly more open to the public – unlike Watches and Wonders, which reserves the first few days of the fair for press, retailers and so on, opening to the public closer to the end of the fair. It’s also officially supported by the State and the City of Geneva, as well as the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services.
Which brands will be at Geneva Watch Days 2024?
So far, these brands have been confirmed: Alto, Alpina, Angelus, Armin Strom, Arnold & Son, Bausele, Beauregard, Behrens, Bianchet, Blancpain, Breguet, Breitling, Bulgari, Byrne, Claude Meylan, Corum, Cvstos, Czapek, Daniel Roth, De Bethune, Doxa, Edox, Favre-Leuba, Fortis, Frédérique Constant, Genus, Girard-Perregaux, Glashütte Original, Greubel Forsey, Hautlence, HYT, Jacob & Co, Konstantin Chaykin, Krayon, Laurent Ferrier, Lederer, L’Epée, Louis Erard, Massena Lab, Maurice Lacroix, MB&F, Micromilspec, Ming, H. Moser & Cie, Oris, Perrelet, Phillips (in association with Bacs & Russo), Raketa, Ressence, Singer, Speake-Marin, Trilobe and Tutima Glashütte.
Where is Geneva Watch Days 2024 held?
As the name implies, Geneva Watch Days is indeed held in Geneva, Switzerland: the world capital of luxury watchmaking and home to many of the world’s top watch brands. Specifically, it will take place at the Rotonde du Mont-Blanc Pavilion on Lake Geneva, as well as at boutiques and venues throughout the city.
GWD’s decentralised nature makes it very different to other watch fairs, with the Pavilion serving as a hub but not the sole focus of festivities. This is another big point of difference between GWD and other fairs like Watches and Wonders, which takes place in a single exhibition centre.
Geneva Watch Days 2024 program
Geneva Watch Days 2024 will kick off with a press conference and official inauguration on Thursday, August 29th. Then, from Friday, August 30th, the Pavilion will open to the public. Each participating brand’s latest novelties will be arranged by theme around the Pavilion.
Free guided tours will be hosted every afternoon: these tours will begin at the Pavilion and travel around the city to various brands’ boutiques and showrooms, ending at the FHH headquarters at the famous Pont de la Machine with a visit to their ‘Watches and Talents’ exhibition.
Similarly to other big watch fairs, other brands that aren’t officially part of GWD (as well as those that are) are also likely to run their own events and activations in and around Geneva during the 2024 fair, as well as potentially time product releases around the fair. For instance, Rolex will not be a part of GWD 2024, but the brand is known to announce new watches in September every year.
Geneva Watch Days 2024 tickets
Geneva Watch Days 2024 is completely free to attend for both members of the public as well as for press and retailers. However, you do need to register for the free guided tours run by the fair. This is yet another point of difference between GWD and Watches and Wonders, which is strictly a ticketed event.
Find out more about Geneva Watch Days 2024 at the fair’s official website here.