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Key takeaways

• The 7th edition of Geneva Watch Days set a record with 71 participating brands presenting nearly 400 new releases.

• Attendance surged with over 2,500 collectors, private clients, and enthusiasts, more than doubling the numbers from 2025.

• The Phillips charity auction raised CHF 115,500 to support the Geneva Watchmaking School and young apprentices.

Five days. 71 brands – a new record for the event. Nearly 400 new releases were unveiled over the course of the week. More than 500 international media representatives and an even larger contingent of content creators (+150 vs. 2025). More than 300 retailers from around the world. Above all, an unprecedented number of collectors, private clients, and watch enthusiasts. With its 7th edition, Geneva Watch Days took on a new dimension.

The strongest signal came from the watch community itself. More than 2,500 collectors, private clients and enthusiasts came to Geneva during the week. Their numbers more than doubled compared with 2025. Some came spontaneously, others at the invitation of retailers or brands, all sharing the same desire: to discover the latest releases and new brands, to meet the people behind the watches, and to experience watchmaking up close and personal.

Under bright blue skies, their presence gave Geneva a distinctive atmosphere. More open. More vibrant. More spontaneous.

Geneva Watch Days 2026 in figures:

• 71 participating brands, a new record
• Nearly 400 new releases unveiled across Geneva
• More than 2,500 private clients, collectors and watch enthusiasts
• More than 500 international media and content creators
• More than 300 international retailers
• Nearly 5,000 unique visitors to the Pavillon
• Nearly 3,000 unique visitors to the Blue Box
• Around 1,200 visitors to the Pavillon on Sunday alone
• CHF 115,500 raised at the Phillips charity auction in support of the Geneva Watchmaking School

Watch Enthusiasts At The Heart Of The Event. 

This was undoubtedly one of the defining features of this year’s edition.  

Geneva Watch Days has never welcomed so many collectors, private clients and watch enthusiasts. They were everywhere. In the showrooms. At the Pavillon. In the Blue Box. At conferences. Around the display cases. In the hotel suites where brands were exhibiting, in boutiques and galleries, and at meetings with watchmakers and CEOs. 

The Touch & Feel sessions let them discover watches directly with the brands and their creators, in a deliberately relaxed, open, and intimate format. Over the course of the week, the Collectors’ Lounge became a permanent meeting point. Retailers also played a major role in this momentum, bringing their own clients and communities to Geneva in far greater numbers this year. 

The difference was palpable from the very first day, both within the event and across the city: more encounters, more exchanges, more conversations about watches. And a level of energy rarely seen before. 

Two Venues, One Shared Energy 

At the heart of the event, the Pavillon at the Rotonde du Mont-Blanc welcomed nearly 5,000 unique visitors. The closing day offered a striking illustration: on Sunday alone, around 1,200 people passed through the Pavillon’s doors to enjoy the final hours of the event. 

Just a few steps away, the Blue Box, in its new format, immediately established itself as the second major meeting point of the 2026 edition. Nearly 3,000 unique visitors discovered the exhibition devoted to the Four Elements – Water, Earth, Air and Fire. Guided tours let visitors handle the watches and gain a deeper understanding of the creations, materials, techniques, and stories behind them. 

Two venues, two experiences, and one shared ambition: to make watchmaking accessible, tangible and alive, and to bring it closer to the wider public and to watch enthusiasts alike. 

A Diversity That Has Become One Of The Signatures Of Geneva Watch Days 

Nearly 400 new releases. The full diversity of contemporary watchmaking. From major Maisons and independent brands to watchmakers working under their own names. The most classical expressions shared the stage with the most unexpected propositions. The 71 participating brands presented nearly 400 new releases over the week, in boutiques, hotels, showrooms, and dedicated spaces across the city. 

Major names stood alongside independents. Historic maisons met a new generation of creators. The most classical expressions shared the stage with the most unexpected creations. For five days in Geneva, the full breadth of contemporary watchmaking came alive.

Exchange. Understand. Pass It On. 

The 2026 edition also offered more opportunities than ever to meet and exchange ideas. 

The Power Breakfasts, held every morning with PMI’s support, brought together executives, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and industry professionals to discuss the major issues facing the sector. 

The Culture Club brought watchmaking culture to life throughout the week. The CaliberShip Challenge, organized with the Geneva Watchmaking School and COSC, once again placed participants and professionals before the same challenge: regulating a mechanical movement as precisely as possible. 

The Pavillon was also a place for ideas and reflection, with Amplitude Op. II, the Dominique Renaud Foundation brought together Nobel Prize-winning physicist Didier Queloz, Thomas Hertog, Janna Levin and Katie Mack to explore the nature of time. 

The spotlight also shone on the next generation. Creative workshops. Encounters with young collectors. Sunday activities for families and children. Exchanges with students from the Geneva Watchmaking School. Because passing on a passion for watchmaking also means preparing for what comes next. 

115,500 Swiss Francs For The Next Generation Of Watchmakers 

The charity auction organized on Thursday, 3 September by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo once again brought brands and collectors together for a common cause. The 16 unique lots donated by participating brands raised 115,500 Swiss francs for the Geneva Watchmaking School and the Pierre Amstutz Fund, which supports apprentices in watchmaking and micromechanics who face financial challenges. 

The top lot, a unique creation by Konstantin Chaykin, sold for 24,000 Swiss francs. Since the auction was launched in 2023, a total of 519,400 Swiss francs has been raised in support of watchmaking education and the next generation. 

A Tangible Commitment. And One That Has Now Become Inseparable From Geneva Watch Days. 

Geneva is fully on board! This 7th edition also confirmed the growing support of the wider Geneva ecosystem. For the second consecutive year, the opening press conference was held at the prestigious Palais Eynard, one of the city’s landmark venues, in the presence of Delphine Bachmann, State Councillor in charge of the Department of Economy and Employment; Christina Kitsos, Mayor of the City of Geneva; and Jean-Christophe Babin, President of the Geneva Watch Days Association. 

Throughout the week, the Canton and City of Geneva, Swiss Who’s Who, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, Geneva Tourism, the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services, Julius Baer, the Geneva Watchmaking School, the Musée International d’Horlogerie, Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo and the Fondation Haute Horlogerie all contributed, in different ways, to this collective momentum. 

A Groundswell Of Support That Now Extends Well Beyond The Watch Industry Itself. 

Jean-Christophe Babin, President of Geneva Watch Days, commented: “This edition marks a new milestone. Of course, 71 brands and nearly 400 new releases already represent a record. But what I will remember above all is the presence of the collectors, private clients and enthusiasts. They came in far greater numbers than last year. They came to see the watches, speak with the people who create them, understand, discover and share. That is precisely the original purpose and vision of Geneva Watch Days: watchmaking that is open, alive and accessible. Watchmaking that creates encounters and reaches out to its enthusiasts and clients, across all generations. Without barriers, in a spirit of openness and genuine conviviality.” 

Beyond the figures, this may ultimately be what the 2026 edition expressed most clearly. 

Geneva Watch Days began as an agile, collective gathering of brands. Seven editions later, it has become much more. A meeting place for the industry, of course. But also for collectors. For clients. For enthusiasts. And for everyone who loves watches.

Exhibiting Brands: 

Akhor, Alpina, Alto, Amida, Artisans de Genève, Ba111od, Beaubleu, Beauregard, Beda’a, Behrens, Bell & Ross, Bianchet, Bimbu, Breitling, Bremont, Bvlgari, Byrne, Cédric Johner, Claude Meylan, Corum, Czapek, Daniel Roth, David Candaux, De Bethune, Dennison, Doxa, Emmanuel Bouchet, Fears, Ferdinand Berthoud, Frédérique Constant, Furlan Marri, Gallet, Gerald Charles, Gerald Genta, Girard-Perregaux, Greubel Forsey, Hautlence,b Kerbedanz, Keris, Konstantin Chaykin, Krayon, L. Leroy, Laurent Ferrier, Lederer, L’Epée, Linde Werdelin, Louis Erard, Louis Moinet, Marli New York, Massena Lab, Maurice Lacroix, Mauron Musy, MB&F, Micro Mil Spec, Ming, Naoya Hida & Co., Oris, Perrelet, Otsuka Lotec, Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, Renaud Tixier, Réservoir, Singer Reimagined, Speake Marin, Stollenwurm, Trilobe, Tutima, Unimatic, Universal Genève, Urwerk and Zenith. 

Geneva Watch Days: A Gathering Born of a Collective Spirit 

Launched in 2020 by eight pioneering brands — Breitling, Bvlgari, De Bethune, Girard-Perregaux, H. Moser & Cie., MB&F, Ulysse Nardin and Urwerk — Geneva Watch Days now flies the flag of independence, with the support of the State and City of Geneva, the Fondation Haute Horlogerie (FHH), Geneva Tourism, the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (CCIG) and the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).