Watches & Wonders Geneva 2025: The Joys, Chaos And Camaraderie

Watches & Wonders Geneva 2025: Part 1

Every year the Watches & Wonders Geneva show fills people with a roller coaster of emotions. Some highly anticipate it and look forward to going while others cringe at the thought. For me, I consider it a great social journey that restores my faith in colleagues and brands. It is also a study in strong will and perseverance. This year, I met with more than 60 brands, filled a notebook, took hundreds upon hundreds of pictures and made sure to do it all with grace (at least, what  I think was grace) – all in five days.

Granted, there are bigger teams than lone-wolf me out there who, amongst their many members of writers, photographers, videographers, and influencers, can see more brands than I saw, but I feel blessed that I get to enjoy one-on-one time with some of the most wonderful watch brands and their executives, many of whom I consider friends.

A typical day at WWG

So, what does a day at the show look like? Chaos, maybe. But controlled chaos. My alarm goes off every morning at 6:30 and I am out the door by 8:00 am after having answered emails, edited stories and had at least a few espressos. Then it is all about hopping the shuttle bus for a 20 minute ride, fighting the lines to get through the security detail and racing off to my first appointment. It is in those meetings that I can go hands on with the watches, talk with the executives to find out the direction of the brand for the coming year and scope out the bigger stories coming down the pipe. Oh, and of course, to spot the trends that will be gracing wrists later this year.

Many journalists who attend the show, and certainly the retailers, make time for lunch – especially since the Fair provides food for free – if you can get a seat at the over-crowded tables and if you can get a waiter or waitress who understands the urgency of your having just a half an hour. I never eat. I plan to change that next year and book 45 minutes into my appointment schedule to grab some sustenance to get me through the long days.

Meetings don’t usually end until about 6 pm or later and then the shuttle buses back to the hotels are infrequent and crowded. Nights are filled with countless cocktail parties and various dinners. The thing about these events is the time you get to unwind and talk with colleagues and friends. It is a sort of annual catch-up that is a key to feeling fulfilled. The day officially ends closer to the real-time day ending of midnight. Then off to bed if you can sleep and up the next day to do it again.

The good, the bad and the ugly of WWG

The good of the show is the people and the products. And also the amazing displays the brands showcase. Not just watches, but the booths that are more like individual boutiques than show booths. Brands go to great lengths to create an ambiance that befits their story of the year. For some, it is an immersive experience, like Panerai with its under-water concept where even the ceiling showcases videos of the sea with fish swimming around, or Van Cleef & Arpels with its romantic garden park-like setting created using hundreds of Murano glass pieces to form trees and benches.  Even the windows on the outside of the booths offer a spectacular glimpse of the brand, its history, its positioning and even its values.

The bad of the show is the race against time to get as much done as possible. One of the biggest logistical challenges of the show is that everyone is trying to do their jobs at once — and often in very tight spaces. For instance, during group meetings, photographers understandably need time to set up their gear, adjust lighting, and shoot each piece with precision. Meanwhile, those of us working solo with phones are sometimes left waiting for a turn to handle the watches briefly and grab our own images. It’s not anyone’s fault — we all have different needs and pressures — but it does highlight how tricky it is to balance everyone’s workflow in such a high-stakes, time-sensitive environment.

The fault here isn’t with the photographers – it is with the presentations and how they are structured. This is the ugly part. Putting journalists and photographers together in a room doesn’t really work. It often leads to logistical conflicts simply because we have different needs and different agendas. The brands also are being forced to squeeze more and more people into a presentation than in the past just because of the sheer nature of how over-indulged the attendee list has become. On top of that, as mentioned, many editors need to bring their photographer or videographer along, which adds to the complexity. It is a tough balancing act for the brands.

Ah, but, these are the challenges we face as our jobs all evolve and the needs of the watch-loving community become greater and greater. The thirst for information and immediacy is real and the need to satiate that thirst is also our jobs. Finding the time to put up an elusive “story” on social media that will disappear in  day or so somehow seems counter-productive – but it is a necessity. It all has to happen — for all of us.

For me, having covered this industry for just about 40 years now, I love it all. The good, the bad, the ugly, the craziness, the ups and the downs, the exhilaration and the exhaustion. I don’t think I am alone there. Work here is a grand combination of working hard, working smart and not really working at all.

As to the trends of the show – stay tuned. Part two, coming tomorrow, is filled with those.