INSIDER VIEW: The good, the bad, and the brilliant of Geneva Watch Days

Geneva Watch Days will continue into the weekend, but for a lot of visitors, myself included, the journey home has already begun.

Two and a half days in Switzerland was enough for me to read the mood of the room (or rooms, as GWD is a deliberately disparate series of micro events), pick up on any design trends, and assess where the Geneva jamboree has really got things right, and where it might consider changing course.

The mood music

Firstly, as I’ve written about at least a couple of times in Watch Insider previously, it feels to me that there are people (journalists in particular) who have an entrenched view on the current state of the global watch industry. Armed with the same set of facts, half of these people believe that this is the year that everything is back on track after a post-Covid ropey spell; the other half are incessantly doom-mongering and really enjoy hoovering the mood out of a conversation by pushing their gloomy narrative.

My experience of Geneva Watch Days only reinforced to me that both these camps are wrong but won’t be budged from their position. I heard first-hand the naysayers saying things in end-of-day group conversations like: “I’m hearing that it’s a struggle out there at the moment.” Each time this excrement was thrown against the wall, none of it stuck.

Equally, I haven’t come away feeling like we’re in the midst of salad days as an industry. There is optimism aplenty, for sure, but the relatively conservative and commercially savvy launches that dominated Watches and Wonders continued here. My view continues to be that this is no bad thing. I guess time will tell.

The experience

Any event hinges on the visitor experience. It’s nine-tenths of the law, as Baselworld found out to its detriment in its dying years. Geneva Watch Days continues to represent a fantastic trip and experience, which is crucial. The weather is almost always gorgeous, and the nature of the event — pop-up stores, hotel suites, and boutiques overlooking Lake Geneva — allows people to really soak up the vitamin D and experience the best that the city has to offer. By and large, there’s a laid-back and relaxed feeling in the air, which is impossible to replicate at an enormous trade show in a convention centre. 

This all really matters. No-one I spoke to has any plans to not be back here this time next year. Geneva Watch Days is future-proof in that sense.

The drawback

There is one bit of umbrage with the organisers that I can’t let slide. On the opening evening, the Geneva Watch Days tent was playing host to an inauguration party. It’s one of the very few ‘centralised’ parts of the whole event. Unfortunately, much like last year, the system (or lack thereof) that they’ve applied on the door to get guests in, is nothing short of shambolic.

Queues were enormous at opening time. Not strange or bad in and of itself, but the queue didn’t appear to be moving. Two overwhelmed workers with iPads on the door simply wasn’t enough. It made passport control at Geneva Airport look like a breeze in comparison. 

I darted across the road for a solo drink to decompress and allow the chaos to subside. Half an hour later I returned and the situation had, somehow, worsened. So I didn’t attend. I couldn’t begin to justify standing in a queue for half an hour. 

Luckily, the nature of Geneva Watch Days means that there were plenty of other options and events that myself and other frustrated queuers could go to, but I cannot comprehend how the organisers keep getting this so wrong. It’s really basic stuff that would be unforgivable for them not to rectify in time for next year.

The conclusion

Geneva Watch Days has become, in a short space of time, a quintessential part of the watch industry’s calendar. What started as an antidote to draconian lockdowns in 2020 is now a brilliant celebration of a wide spectrum of watchmakers, with Geneva as a city quite literally shining in the twilight of summer.

Many brands that I met had held back launches specifically for the occasion, and that’s the ultimate seal of approval and vindication of the relevance and influence of any event. 

The mix of attendees — almost equal parts press, influencers, collectors, and retailers — gives the exhibiting brands significant value and multiple touchpoints to utilise.

I called it back in 2020, and I’m more confident than ever in saying it now — Geneva Watch Days is here to stay and the industry is the better for it.