The Skeie’s team spent four days in Geneva, Switzerland, soaking up a rare four day run of perfect 70-degree days, and a binge diet of fondue, steak frites, and the greatest watches on the planet.
This series recaps some of our favorite moments from the week:
GENEVE
What began as an industry-only trade show has in only two years become the watchworld’s main event, capturing the imagination of horology die-hards worldwide while noticeably enticing mainstream imagination in a way its predecessor Basel World never did.
In 2024, Watches and Wonder indisputably became the Fashion Week of Watches. In addition to being covered by every major watch-related content creator and YouTuber you can imagine, this year also caught the attention of Bloomberg, New York Times, and GQ.
The entire city was transformed into a celebration packed with side events and unofficial parties, much like the buzz and circumstance you’d experience at New York Fashion week.
Watches and Wonders Goes Public
This year, for the first time, the event was open to the public for three of its six days, and this really added to the excitement and energy of the event. Amid the celebrity sightings, television stars, and unofficial gatherings (one which featured the world’s largest green diamond, reportedly worth $75 million), throngs of amateur watch enthusiasts from all over the planet descended on the Palexpo event center during its final three days. That means next year you can go too – and you absolutely should.
Watch Brands Brought Their A-Game.
Some 54 brands exhibited collections at Watches and Wonders, and many clearly spent millions of dollars (or francs), transforming convention center space into retail experiences that would stand out on 5th Avenue.
There were theme park-worthy water features (IWC), a fortress of glass, steel and opaque marble that looked like an upmarket Apple Store (Patek Philipe), and memorable uses of light, scent, materials, and color by Grand Seiko, Chanel, Chopard, and Jaeger.
When it comes to experience, Van Cleef and Arpels was especially memorable. Though far from the biggest space, the French jewelry brand constructed a four-room temple adorned in custom moving panels of stained glass shaped like palm leaves that would react to changes in light, dozens of ornate jewel-studded timepieces with hand-painted dials, and the piece de resistance – an alter at the center of the experience with a trio of bejeweled mechanical hummingbirds or fairies that would unfurl from blossoms every hour on the hour–spectacular.
