INSIDER VIEW: NYC defies tariff tribulations

Watch lovers of all shapes and sizes descended on the Big Apple last week, in a show of defiance that matched the passion of the anti-Trump protests that I got caught up in across Manhattan.

The two cornerstone events of WindUp and WatchTime were more popular than ever before, and no-one who attended was in any doubt about the strength and resilience of the biggest Swiss watch export market in the world.

Tariffs come, tariffs go, but WatchTime and WindUp are established as such integral parts of the U.S. watch landscape now, that it’s hard to remember a time when they didn’t exist. For this year to be both WatchTime New York’s and WindUp New York’s 10th anniversary is almost incredible, given the roaring successes that they have become.

It’s not just the queues around the block before the doors open. Nor is it the barely believable knowledge that these watch collectors possess, not just of high end watches from major group brands but also of relatively inexpensive, niche, independent brands. It’s the feel and the environment and the optimism, and it’s hard not to attribute a significant chunk of this to the host city itself, New York.

I have attended dozens of watch events in my time, and a lot of them can be put in the category of ‘practical’ or ‘functional.’ You turn up to a hotel ballroom or an out-of-town converted warehouse and you see some beautiful watches. But the journey there is a necessary evil and, once all is said and done, you go home, perhaps via an average restaurant if you’re lucky.

But in New York, I spent my days meeting some of the world’s biggest retailers and brands, before attending both major events, as well as a host of smaller events that have popped up too. Once I was done with it all, I invariably found a like-minded group to go for dinner or to find a bar with, because we were in the city that never sleeps.

It sounds like a crude and reductionist point to make, but the better the visitor experience for a watch show, the more likely it is that people will come back year after year and turn it into a roaring success. WatchTime and WindUp have achieved this in spades, and we shouldn’t take them for granted.