W&W2024
This article is part of our Watches and Wonders 2024 coverage.
Watches and Wonders is the luxury watch industry’s preeminent annual event, showcasing new releases from over 50 top brands. The Watches & Wonders Geneva event effectively supplanted the once-dominant Baselworld as the world’s top watch fair. Now, towards the start of spring each year, droves of watch industry members and enthusiasts descend upon Geneva to soak in all the newest, hottest watches.
When is Watches & Wonders 2024?
Watches and Wonders Geneva 2024 will occur from April 9 through 15, 2024. The first four days (April 9 – 12), are for journalists and industry members only, and April 13-15 are open to the general public. Expect online content for all the relevant new releases to appear at the beginning of the fair.
What are the Best New Watches from Watches and Wonders 2024?
You can check out our guide to the Best of Watches and Wonders 2024 for more favorites, but we’ll give you a quick breakdown here:
Vacheron Constantin has released the most complicated watch in the world, with 63 complications and a stunning 2,877 parts. It’s the world’s first Chinese perpetual calendar.
IWC has become only the fifth watchmaker in the world to make a secular perpetual calendar (complicated enough to handle leap year “exceptions” so it theoretically won’t need setting before the year 4000). The color green is still in style, and Grand Seiko is still making beautiful textured dials inspired by random elements of Japanese landscapes like the new Genbi Valley dial. Cartier has released some colorful Santos models along with a stunning monopusher Tortue.
Many enthusiasts will appreciate the greyish-blue dial and strap now offered on the Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time, but it’s only in white gold. Meanwhile Rolex is apparently trying to go way upscale and released a zillion diamond-covered watches and only one steel one. At least Tudor came through with something for the people: a Black Bay 58 GMT with a Master Chronometer movement.
⬤ 2024
WATCHES & WONDERS COVERAGE
Best of Watches and Wonders 2024
Rolex: 2024 Releases
Patek Philippe: 2024 Releases
Tudor: 2024 Releases
Cartier: 2024 Releases
A. Lange & Söhne: 2024 Releases
Jaeger LeCoultre: 2024 Releases
Panerai: 2024 Releases
Grand Seiko: 2024 Releases
Vacheron Constantin: 2024 Releases
IWC: 2024 Releases
Hublot, Zenith, and TAG Heuer: 2024 Releases
Everything to Know about W&W24
A Look Back: The Most Trending Brands from Watches and Wonders 2023
How to Attend Watches and Wonders
You can simply buy tickets online to attend Watches and Wonders Geneva. For an adult in 2024, a three-day pass was about $180.
What Brands are at Watches and Wonders?
54 brands exhibted at Watches and Wonders 2024:
Brand | Owner |
---|---|
A. Lange & Söhne | Richemont |
Alpina Watches | Citizen |
Angelus | Manufacture La Joux-Perret |
Arnold & Son | Citizen |
Artya | Artya |
Baume & Mercier | Richemont |
Beauregard | Beauregard |
Bell & Ross | Private investors, Chanel (minority) |
Bremont | Nick and Giles English |
Cartier | Richemont |
Chanel | Wertheimer family |
Charriol | Family-owned |
Chopard | Scheufele family |
Chronoswiss | Ebstein family |
Cyrus Genève | LVMH |
Czapek & Cie | Czapek & Cie |
Eberhard & Co. | Eberhard & Co. |
Ferdinand Berthoud | Scheufele family |
Frederique Constant | Citizen Watch Co. |
Gerald Charles | Gerald Charles |
Grand Seiko | Seiko |
Grönefeld | Grönefeld family |
H. Moser & Cie. | MELB Holding |
Hautlence | MELB Holding |
Hermès | H51 SAS, Arnault family, et al |
Hublot | LVMH |
Hysek | Akram Aljord |
IWC | Richemont |
Jaeger-LeCoultre | Richemont |
Laurent Ferrier | François Servanin et al |
Louis Moine | Jean-Marie Schaller |
Montblanc | Richemont |
Nomos Glashütte | Independently-owned |
Norqain | Family-owned |
Oris | Ulrich W. Herzog et al |
Panerai | Richemont |
Parmigiani Fleurier | Sandoz Family |
Patek Philippe | Stern Family |
Pequignet | Philippe Spruch and Laurent Katz |
Piaget | Richemont |
Raymond Weil | Family-owned |
Ressence | Benoît Mintiens et al |
Roger Dubuis | Richemont |
Rolex | Hans Wilsdorf Foundation |
Rudis Sylva | Jacky Epitaux, Laurent Frésard et al |
Speake-Marin | Christelle Rosnoblet |
TAG Heuer | LVMH |
Trilobe | Gautier Massonneau |
Tudor | Hans Wilsdorf Foundation |
U-Boat | Italo Fontana |
Ulysse Nardin | Sowind |
Vacheron Constantin | Richemont |
Van Cleef & Arpels | Richemont |
Zenith | LVMH |
Who’s Not at Watches and Wonders?
Swatch’s brands (including Breguet, Longines, Blancpain and Omega) do not participate in Watches and Wonders. Breitling, Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet, F.P. Journe, Bulgari, and Girard-Perregaux are also notably absent.
What Happened to Baselworld?
The downfall of Baselworld, in my opinion, should be examined as a case study at business schools around the world. It’s a textbook example of arrogantly overplaying your leverage. But in its heyday, Baselworld was a phenomenon.
In its peak years around 2015, BASELWORLD hosted 1,500 exhibitors from 40 nations on 140,000 square meters and welcomed over 150,000 visitors.
Baselworld.com
The Downfall of Baselworld
Baselworld had roots dating back to 1917, and it was an absolute mainstay of the industry. Rolex had been releasing their new models there every year since the 1950’s! Clearly Baselworld management thought their exhibitors needed them, and prices for booths there were not cheap.
But after the 2020 edition was cancelled amid that year’s lockdowns, MCH Group (Baselworld’s parent company) must’ve done something to annoy Rolex and Patek Philippe enough for them to consider alternative options. And all it took for the Baselworld empire to come crashing down was probably one friendly text message between Rolex and Patek Philippe executives. “Hey is Baselworld hassling you too? How about we both do our new releases at SIHH instead? Lol!”
The Origins of Watches & Wonders Geneva
Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, established in 1991 and better known as “SIHH,” was the annual upscale watch show for Richemont brands. Richemont is the company who owns Cartier as well as Panerai, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre and more. Eventually the show also included other leading brands like Richard Mille and Audemars Piguet.
Gradually SIHH grew to become the clearcut #2 watch fair in the world. And what happens when Rolex and Patek decide to show their watches at the #2 watch show? Well…it becomes the #1 watch show; that’s what. The new watch show would no longer be known as “SIHH,” however. It effectively merged with Watches & Wonders, which had previously been more of a traveling multi-city affair.
Baselworld had planned to “re-imagine” their platform as some vague digital concept called Baselworld 2.0, then they briefly considered throwing in-person events under a new moniker, “HourUniverse.” Then they claimed “Baselworld is back!” but, it most certainly wasn’t. As of 2024, Baselworld.com states “No further editions of Baselworld are planned at this point.” Oof. Nobody is even really challenging W&W’s dominance at this point. I feel like Harvard Business School could have a field day with that one.
Commonly Asked Questions About Watches and Wonders
How Old is Watches and Wonders?
Watches & Wonders first occurred in 2013, and from then until 2019 it was a multi-city show that exhibited in places like Hong Kong and Miami. Since 2020, the Watches & Wonders team, along with Richemont and all the other exhibitors, fills Baselworld’s void with what we now know as Watches & Wonders Geneva.
Where is Watches and Wonders 2024?
Watches and Wonders, as usual, will occur in Geneva in 2024. Specifically, at a convention center known as Palexpo. Smaller W&W Shanghai events also occurred each September from 2021-2023, but no plans for a 2024 Shanghai show have been announced.
Can You Buy Watches There?
No, don’t expect to make any actual watch purchases at the show.
Is AP at Watches and Wonders?
No, the 2024 Audemars Piguet watch releases are already out. Often they’ll release more models in the fall, too.
What to Expect from Rolex 2024?
You check out our breakdown of Rolex 2024 releases (a steel GMT with a grey/black bezel got the most attention) or see all the Rolex models discontinued in 2024 (Adios, Yacht-Master II).
We’ll keep an eye on additional releases throughout the fair!
2 Comments
Why doesn’t The Swatch brands like Omega participate in Watches and Wonders?
Good question. Maybe it’s a competitive Swatch/Richemont thing, as the history of Watches & Wonders is tied to SIHH, Richemont’s show.