Watches and Wonders Geneva 2021 moves forward and innovates with a major industry gathering taking place in two phases in April 2021. A month during which watchmaking worldwide will be held in the spotlight online and offline. Some forty leading brands will be present, April 7-13, on the newly enhanced watchesandwonders.com digital platform. On the agenda: networking, discussions and enhanced interactivity as brands reveal their 2021 new releases. This digital gathering will be followed a few days later, by the Watches and Wonders Shanghai physical Salon, where some 15 exhibiting brands will present their latest timepieces. In other words, a single event that unites the watch industry’s leading names in digital and physical format. A first.
While uncertainty surrounding the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the Watches and Wonders Geneva Exhibitor Committee to rethink the format of the Salon, scheduled April 7-13, 2021, the need remains for a large-scale event that brings watchmaking’s professionals and principal stakeholders together in a single location, both to ensure business continuity and to connect brands, retailers and international media. In the face of an uncertain health situation, Watches and Wonders shows its agility and is initiating a powerful momentum that will take place both online and offline. This gets under way April 7-13 when Watches and Wonders Geneva hosts some 40 brands on the new watchesandwonders.com platform. Next, in China, where a few days later, some 15 brands are exhibiting at the second edition of Watches and Wonders Shanghai inside the West Bund Art Center.
Watches and Wonders Geneva, welcoming the great names in watchmaking
All the brands that confirmed their presence at the physical Salon, including Cartier, Chanel, Chopard, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Hermès, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Tudor and Ulysse Nardin, will be joined by new arrivals, among which are Bulgari, Carl F. Bücherer, Hublot, Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer and Zenith. This will be the first time that so many of the most prestigious names in watchmaking have united around this initiative: namely a vast but exclusive online event for retail and media professionals, as well as brands’ VIP customers who are invited to preview the new releases for 2021.
To facilitate interaction and enable visitors from around the world to enjoy the full Watches and Wonders experience, the watchesandwonders.com platform – successfully introduced in April 2020 – launches with additional features. More interactive, more functional and focused on services and exchange, this upgraded version is designed to favour synergies, communication and networking. Visitors become actors, not just onlookers, in a robust program that includes multiple opportunities to directly interact with the brands through live chats and streams.
On the agenda: product launches and major partnership announcements by the brands, online press calls, a live Morning Show bringing daily analysis of what’s new at the Salon, plus panels and talks led by key industry figures and influential personalities. Curated by the participating brands and by specialists at the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, the organizer of the Salon, this wealth of content will run throughout the full seven days in a celebration of the creativity and expertise of watchmaking excellence.
Watches and Wonders Shanghai, the physical fair returns
Carrying on the momentum from the Watches and Wonders Geneva digital Salon will be an exclusive event, held in Shanghai. Coming after the successful inaugural edition of Watches and Wonders Shanghai in September 2020, and observing full health and safety measures, the West Bund Art Center will welcome some 15 brands for its second edition, including new arrivals such as Chopard, Rolex, Tudor and Ulysse Nardin.
The event will be open by invitation only to media, retailers and watch enthusiasts who will be first to see, in the metal, the new releases unveiled just days before on the watchesandwonders.com platform. They can look forward to a rich and varied program that emphasizes the art and culture of watchmaking. Workbench demonstrations, talks and discussions, interactive experiences and decoding of the latest technological innovations from the exhibiting brands inside the LAB will surround visitors with the wonders of watchmaking excellence. This unique date in the calendar further anchors Watches and Wonders in the dynamic Chinese market and confirms its position as a must-see event for the watch community in Asia.
Depending on how the COVID-19 situation evolves, more Watches and Wonders physical events may be added, to provide professionals and enthusiasts with an opportunity to discover the new releases for 2021 along with a hands-on experience.
For 2022, the leading names in the watch industry are looking forward to gathering, in person, at the next Watches and Wonders Geneva, which will be the biggest watch Salon ever held in Geneva. This already highly anticipated event will take place in spring 2022 at Palexpo.
Until then, Watches and Wonders looks forward to welcoming you from April 7 to 13, 2021 for the first chapter of this exciting momentum of fine watchmaking. Stay connected!
WandW 2021 – TEASER EN 1440-70 from Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie on Vimeo.
BRANDS ON THE WATCHESANDWONDERS.COM DIGITAL PLATFORM
EXHIBITING BRANDS | A. LANGE & SÖHNE | ARNOLD & SON | BAUME & MERCIER | BVLGARI | CARL F. BUCHERER | CARTIER | CHANEL | CHOPARD | CHRONOSWISS | CORUM | FERDINAND BERTHOUD | GREUBEL FORSEY | H. MOSER & CIE. | HERMÈS | HUBLOT | IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN | JAEGER-LECOULTRE | LOUIS MOINET | LOUIS VUITTON | MAURICE LACROIX | MONTBLANC | NOMOS GLASHÜTTE | ORIS | PANERAI | PATEK PHILIPPE | PIAGET | PURNELL | REBELLION TIMEPIECES | RESSENCE | ROGER DUBUIS | ROLEX | SPEAKE-MARIN | TAG HEUER | TRILOBE | TUDOR | ULYSSE NARDIN | VACHERON CONSTANTIN | ZENITHBRANDS EXHIBITING AT WATCHES AND WONDERS
SHANGHAI
EXHIBITING BRANDS | A. LANGE & SÖHNE | BAUME & MERCIER | CARTIER | CHOPARD | IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN | JAEGER-LECOULTRE | MONTBLANC | PANERAI | PIAGET | ROGER DUBUIS | ROLEX | TUDOR | ULYSSE NARDIN | VACHERON CONSTANTIN