Watches and Wonders 2025: Everything to Know
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, and the 2025 fair was a successful one.
When is Watches & Wonders 2025?
Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025 began April 1 and the last day was April 7. The first four days (April 1-4), were for journalists and industry members only, and April 5-7 were open to the general public. Online content always appears at the beginning of the fair.
What Were the Best New Watches from Watches and Wonders 2025?
The new Rolex Land-Dweller seemed to make the most headlines of Watches and Wonders 2025 not only for its throwback integrated bracelet design, but for its DynaPulse escapement. But we should certainly mention the three world records broken this year: the world’s lightest dive watch (Ulysse Nardin‘s Diver [AIR] weighs 52 grams), the world’s thinnest tourbillon watch (The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon is only 1.85mm thick), and the most complicated wristwatch ever made (41 complications in a single 45mm Vacheron Constantin wristwatch).
See below for our complete coverage of Watches and Wonders 2025 releases from our favorite brands:
Our Complete Coverage of Watches & Wonders Geneva 2025:
How to Attend Watches and Wonders
You had to buy tickets online beforehand to attend Watches and Wonders Geneva. For an adult in 2025, a single-day pass for Saturday or Sunday was about $77 while a Monday pass was about $55. Two-day and three-day passes saved about 15%.
What Brands Were at Watches and Wonders 2025?
60 brands exhibited at Watches and Wonders 2025. Armin Strom, Bulgari, Christiaan van der Klaauw, Genus, Kross Studio, Montblanc and HYT were all exhibiting for the first time, while Beauregard was the only 2024 exhibitor not returning. Here’s the full list:
| Brand | Owner |
|---|---|
| A. Lange & Söhne | Richemont |
| Alpina Watches | Citizen |
| Angelus | Manufacture La Joux-Perret |
| Armin Strom | Serge Michel and Claude Greisler |
| Arnold & Son | Citizen |
| Artya | Artya |
| Baume & Mercier | Richemont |
| Bell & Ross | Private investors, Chanel (minority) |
| Bremont | Nick and Giles English |
| Bulgari | LVMH |
| Cartier | Richemont |
| Chanel | Wertheimer family |
| Charriol | Family-owned |
| Chopard | Scheufele family |
| Christiaan van der Klaauw | Pim Koeslag |
| Chronoswiss | Ebstein family |
| Cyrus Genève | LVMH |
| Czapek & Cie | Czapek & Cie |
| Eberhard & Co. | Eberhard & Co. |
| Ferdinand Berthoud | Scheufele family |
| Frederique Constant | Citizen Watch Co. |
| Genus | Sébastien Billières and Catherine Henry |
| 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 |
| HYT | Kairos Technology Switzerland |
| IWC | Richemont |
| Jaeger-LeCoultre | Richemont |
| Kross Studio | Marco Tedeschi |
| Laurent Ferrier | François Servanin et al |
| Louis Moine | Jean-Marie Schaller |
| MeisterSinger | Manfred Brassler |
| 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, 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 2025?
Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025 once again was held at a convention center known as Palexpo. Since 2021, smaller W&W Shanghai events also occur each August/September.
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 occurred through other channels throughout the year, just as we expect the 2025 models will be.
What Did Rolex Release in 2025?
You can check out our breakdown of Rolex 2025 releases. You can also see what Rolex discontinued in 2025, or you can go back and review the Rolex 2024 releases.
We hope you enjoyed our coverage of the fair!
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