Everything you need to know about Watches & Wonders 2025 – the brands, US$600 VIP passes and more
Russell SheldrakeUpdate: read our full coverage of Watches & Wonders 2025.
We are getting closer and closer by the day to the opening of Watches and Wonders 2025. For those who might not know, Watches and Wonders is the main trade show of the watch world that takes place each year in the capital of watchland, Geneva. Last year’s edition saw 54 brands fill the Palexpo exhibition centre with larger-than-life booths individually designed and decorated to reflect that brand’s main focus of the year – a massive affair. But recent announcements have confirmed Watches and Wonders 2025 will be the biggest edition yet, with 60 total brands exhibiting in Switzerland this year. Here’s everything you need to know about the watch industry’s biggest event. Here’s everything you need to know about the watch world’s week of weeks.
When is Watches and Wonders 2025?
Watches and Wonders 2025 will occur from April 1 to 7, 2025, with April 5 to 7 set to be the days that are open to the public. General admission tickets for public days are now available for purchase.
What’s new for the 2025 fair?
The first big announcement that was made was in regards to the running and organising of it. It was revealed that Chanel, Hermès, and the LVMH group have joined the Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation Board, the organising body behind the fair. We have also come to the end of Chairman Jean-Frédéric Dufour’s two-year term. The Rolex CEO passes the role on to his successor, Cyrille Vigneron, President and CEO of Cartier.
What can probably be considered as the major news of this fair is that Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025 will be the largest edition of the watch fair to date, with a total of 60 brands exhibiting this year. Bulgari will make its Watches and Wonders debut along with independent newcomers Christiaan van der Klaauw, Genus, Kross Studio and MeisterSinger. Furthermore, former exhibitors HYT and Armin Strom are set to return next year as well. Based on the official list of brands, however, it appears Beauregard will not return for the 2025 edition.
These changes show how the fair is beginning to open up from its Richemont-only origins when it was born out of SIHH. Now very much the combination of the old SIHH and Baselworld, it’s good to see more brands being represented on the organising board. Will this mean we see a change in the layout or structure of the fair? We’re not sure, but it’s a good sign nonetheless.
It is very interesting to see Bulgari enter the Watches and Wonders mix. These past few years, the brand has leveraged January’s LVMH Watch Week to kick off the year, with its summertime Geneva Watch Days fair closing out the year with even more novelties. This now means Bulgari will have three sizeable touch points throughout the year for major unveilings. With Watches and Wonders rapidly growing, it will be interesting to see if holdouts such as Audemars Piguet, Breitling (which was rumoured to be joining the lineup) and the roster of Swatch Group brands feel pressure or temptation to join in 2026.
The last and latest reveal for the upcoming edition of the fair is the new “VIP Pass.” These VIP passes are available for purchase now via the Watches and Wonders website. For CHF 550 (approximately US$620), the VIP Pass offers priority access via a dedicated VIP entry that ensures no wait time to get inside, a dedicated VIP Lounge where pass holders can enjoy complimentary lunch service and refreshments throughout the day, access to private small group guided tours of the salon (1.5 hours) and priority access to booking exclusive product presentations (30min), dedicated complimentary parking, and a commemorative gift to mark the occasion. It is quite a pricey means of entry, but then again, we are talking VIP here.
Never fear though – if you can’t splash out on this VIP package, you can still experience the show and a lot of the benefits us journalists have with a standard ticket. For the first time this year, those who book public tickets can now use a booking system very similar to the one used by the press to book product presentations and guided tours by experts. There will also be conferences held for ticket holders on the watchmaking industry and the concept of time. Pair this with a whole host of activities, activations, and installations throughout the city of Geneva, there will be plenty to do and see, whether you are inside Palexpo or not.
Which brands will be at Watches and Wonders 2025?
The official list is as follows: A. Lange & Söhne, Alpina, Angelus, Armin Strom, Arnold & Son, Artya, Baume & Mercier, Bell & Ross, Bremont, Bulgari, Cartier, Chanel, Charriol, Chopard, Christiaan van der Klaauw, Chronoswiss, Cyrus Genève, Czapek & Cie, Eberhard & Co, Ferdinand Berthoud, Frederique Constant, Genus, Gerald Charles, Grand Seiko, Grönefeld, H. Moser & Cie, Hautlence, Hermès, Hublot, Hysek, HYT, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Kross Studio, Laurent Ferrier, Louis Moinet, MeisterSinger, Montblanc, Nomos Glashütte, Norqain, Oris, Panerai, Parmigiani Fleurier, Patek Philippe, Pequignet, Piaget, Raymond Weil, Ressence, Roger Dubuis, Rolex, Rudis Sylva, Speake-Marin, TAG Heuer, Trilobe, Tudor, U-Boat, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Zenith.
And as always, we didn’t hesitate letting you know what we loved, and what we hated from the fair last year.
Where is Watches and Wonders 2025?
As always, Watches and Wonders 2025 will be taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Palexpo Exhibition Centre, located next to Geneva Airport. Those who follow the car world will know Palexpo as the home of the Geneva International Motor Show, although after coming back from its COVID hiatus in 2024, that show has now been cancelled – a major blow to the city and its motoring enthusiasts. Alongside the main exhibition that will take place in Palexpo, we will likely see a lot of other brands host press, members of the industry, and clients down in the city of Geneva, whether in the Beau-Rivage and President Wilson hotels or smaller exhibition spaces found in the old town. Thus why the week has become unofficially known as “Geneva Watch Week”.