Hello, today I would like to talk about the Geneva Watches Days 24H in Zürich event that I participated in. It took place on June 4, 2024. Before going over its proceedings, I would like to tell you a bit more about this initiative that gathers more and more brands each year.
Initiated in 2020, a year marked by the health crisis that led to the cancellation of the Watch and Wonders and Baselworld fairs, the Geneva Watch Days were born from the initiative of 6 founding members: Breitling, Bulgari, De Bethune, Girard-Perregaux, H. Moser & Cie., and MB&F.
The Geneva Watch Days is a multi-brand watch fair, mostly featuring independent brands, that defines itself as “decentralized and self-managed” under the auspices of the city and canton of Geneva. This event’s main objective is to bring together and offer a common exhibition space for watch brands, from the most renowned to the newest, all in a friendly, festive, and relaxed atmosphere, taking advantage of the key period that is the back-to-school season.
For this first edition relocated to Zürich, about thirty brands out of the 54 participating in the Geneva Watch Days 2024 made the trip to meet retailers, bloggers like me, and local collectors. The event welcomed 520 people and took place at Aura, on the banks of the Limmat, in two dedicated spaces.
The Zurich event began with a press conference followed by a discussion with the CEOs of the brands. This was followed by a cocktail dinner and a time to see and discover the watches from the different brands that were present. I think this first event was a very good step to make this event more national. The brands were able to interact more with each other, and it was a way for me to reconnect with my acquaintances and meet new interesting people in this industry.
As for the annual 2024 edition, it will be held in Geneva from August 29 to September 2, 2024, and will bring together 51 brands: Alpina, Alto, Angelus, Armin Strom, Arnold & Son, Bausele, Beauregard, Behrens, Bianchet, Blancpain, Breguet, Breitling, Bulgari, Byrne, Konstantin Chaykin, Claude Meylan, Corum, Cvstos, Czapek, Daniel Roth, De Bethune, Doxa, Edox, Favre-Leuba, Fortis, Frédérique Constant Group, Genus, Girard-Perregaux, Glashütte Original, Greubel Forsey, Hautlence, HYT, Jacob & Co, Krayon, Laurent Ferrier, Lederer, L’Epée, Louis Erard, Massena Lab, Maurice Lacroix, MB&F, Micromilsec, Ming, H. Moser & Cie., Oris, Perrelet, Phillips in association with Bacs & Russo, Raketa, Reservoir, Ressence, Singer, Speake Marin, Trilobe, Tutima.
A charity auction will also be held this year jointly by the Geneva Watch Days and Phillips in association with Bacs & Russo to support students in precarious situations at the Geneva Watchmaking School, to help them complete their training under better conditions.
I leave you with a small selection of watches that I had the opportunity to try. See you soon on The Time Production.
