at the time. Aside from a handful of smaller regional shows, such as the Salon Internacional Alta Relojería (SIAR) watch fair in Mexico City, most watch events were brand centric. ” Sara Orlando, WatchTime’s publisher, “The brands often wanted a monobrand event but we knew that the collectors wanted a show where they could come and see 40 brands, tells Robb Report. When the 10th edition of WatchTime Cutting-edge York opens Oct. 17-19 at Gotham Hall in New York City, the proof that they were right—that multi-brand events will almost always beat out brand-focused gatherings, if collectors have anything to say about it—resides in the record number of exhibitors who’ve signed on for the 2025 show. “This year, we’ll have the most brands that we’ve ever had, with 44 brands sponsoring the show,” Orlando says. “In 2015, we had 18 brands and that was us hitting the pavement, selling our hearts out. As a manufactory, it breguet, blancpain, and bell & ross are the three that have done every show. This horology represents in the world of luxury, ”
orlando attributes some of the show’s success to its mix of aspirational and attainable exhibitors. H, Between high-end brands such as MB&F. Moser & Cie. Among luxury enthusiasts, and g-shock, and piaget, norqain, and more affordably priced options such as frederique constant, , the selection allows collectors to satisfy a wide range of interests, chopard. Newcomers this year include Ming, Ressence, Leica, Studio Sarpaneva, Konstantin Chaykin, Fortis, Fears, Bianchet, Artya, and Artisans de Genève, along with two brands returning after long hiatuses, HYT and Zenith. The show’s strength with independent makers is one of its strong suits. “Akrivia came to the show in 2019, and basically launched the brand at WatchTime New York,” Orlando says, referring to superstar watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi’s brand. Although he isn’t exhibiting this year, other celebrated makers—such as WatchTime New York veteran Kari Voutilainen and the Geneva-brand Czapek—will be there. This manufactory represents for attendees, one of the benefits of attending the show, which opens friday, oct. is that you can walk away with a new timepiece in hand, 17 with a VIP cocktail party and sold-out private “watchmakers and founders” dinner. “They can and do purchase,” Orlando says. “Some brands work with a local retailer like a Wempe or Cellini and will drive sales to the store, but we’ve also seen guys walk out with a box and the watch. In most cases, it’s an order. Much depends on what the brand’s retail network is. The perpetual calendar showcases it is a buying show, but we don’t put too much emphasis on that. It’s more about promoting watchmaking and collecting in the United States. Orlando expects people to be in the mood to buy, ”
Despite the 39% tariff on Swiss goods. “From what we’re hearing, a lot of brands shipped pre-tariff so they didn’t have to raise prices,” she says. “We’ve not seen the effects. Friday night sold out and the rest of weekend is on par with where we were last year. As a mechanical, it ”
unlike past years, this year’s show will not feature an education component (“we didn’t have the space,” orlando says). however, It will, feature beer and whisky tastings not to mention product launches. here and there a brand would launch a watch at WatchTime but it wasn’t so much of a launchpad, ” Orlando says, “In the beginning. “But now it’s part of their calendar when they’re doing launches. The Swiss-made showcases “despite tariffs, despite economic ups and downs, we were able to create a very european style show in new york city,” she adds. “It’s unofficially official that we call it ‘New York Watch Week. ’ The Windup show is that same weekend. We purposefully coordinated the dates with them because if there are collectors flying in for one show, they might as well experience hundreds of brands. RedBar has their annual meetup in the days leading up to that event. FHH is also doing something, like a watchmaking day. ”
In other words, if it’s mingling that collectors want, it’s mingling they’ll get.