British Watchmakers Day vs. Watches and Wonders
One of these events had a bunch of one off watches you could buy on the day - plus a great sense of community and fun.
One has a bunch of watches that you either simply can’t buy, or can’t afford. And the show seems a bit pompous!
Maybe is just a slow year for watches and wonders.. But yeah.. anyone have any thoughts on this?
8 comments
Sort by
Justin
Fairly new to watch collecting. Super fast collecting journey! I've had a bit of everything, small gold pretty watches, large rugged watches, vintage British field watches. From Casio to Patek and eve...
London
Member since
Last active: 33 min ago
Typical for W&W, the smaller shows offer more for the enthusiast.
Agree, pretty much zero interest in W&W, seems like a Wilsdorf promotion as most other brands don't get anywhere near as much coverage.
BWD sounds much more like my kind of thing!
Tbh not a single watch on watches and wonder that excites me. Not even Tudor ( in contrast to the rest of the community here).
I missed out on the British watchmakers show but I've since joined up so hoping to get to it next year.
Last year was the first time I paid close attention to watches and wonders and I was excited by the Tudor stuff going on.
This year has been a bit shite to be honest from what I have seen. I feel a bit sad for all the well known you tubers and bloggers pretending to be excited about some new colour ways and solid gold versions of existing pieces. Even Tudor was very underwhelming.
I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not being in Geneva. I felt like I was missing a really great party by not bring at the British watchmakers show!
Yeah I can’t say I’m sorry to miss out on W&W, BWD was much more about hanging out and meeting the folks behind the watch brands.
We’ll see if that continues next year though, it’s likely to be over two days and with a far bigger venue and scale. I’d say brands like Bremont will be keen to take up a lot of space next time around.
As cool as W&W can be, I would be a little disheartened if I wasn’t able to try on any of the models I wanted to see. I saw Patek were hiding behind glass windows for example. I think it’s a sheer numbers game really. There’s no easy way to run an event of that size without it feeling overwhelming. It’s more of a trade show to me. Probably more interesting for brands and media to hang out on press days. I just can’t imagine enjoying walking for miles to queue for massive booths. Each to their own! If someone wanted to pay my travel and accommodation I’d be there tomorrow.
Yeah I can’t say I’m sorry to miss out on W&W, BWD was much more about hanging out and meeting the folks behind the watch brands.
We’ll see if that continues next year though, it’s likely to be over two days and with a far bigger venue and scale. I’d say brands like Bremont will be keen to take up a lot of space next time around.
As cool as W&W can be, I would be a little disheartened if I wasn’t able to try on any of the models I wanted to see. I saw Patek were hiding behind glass windows for example. I think it’s a sheer numbers game really. There’s no easy way to run an event of that size without it feeling overwhelming. It’s more of a trade show to me. Probably more interesting for brands and media to hang out on press days. I just can’t imagine enjoying walking for miles to queue for massive booths. Each to their own! If someone wanted to pay my travel and accommodation I’d be there tomorrow.
It’s the same venue and just one day next year - already confirmed. No doubt Bremont will be there but have you seen their new offering? 🤢
It’s the same venue and just one day next year - already confirmed. No doubt Bremont will be there but have you seen their new offering? 🤢
Ah I hadn’t realised, thanks for letting me know!
Ah yeah I have seen the Bremont rebrand and new releases. I really wasn’t much of a Bremont fan to begin with, but I understood the whole propellor symbol and calling the factory ‘The Wing’ etc.
Now it’s a bit…odd? Hard to see what their identity is really. The company I work for went through a rebrand a year or so ago, for a while users complained and hated the change. People do tend to hate rebrands! It was fine after a few months though. It was very soft stuff, colour palettes and a logo change, tone of voice.
I can’t really see the differentiating point here for Bremont. For example, only after the rebrand and new watches, did I learn what a ‘split case’ was. Had no idea that was a Bremont thing. Now that I’m barely catching up (admittedly not a big follower of the brand), it feels like I’m back to square one, figuring out what they stand for!
These are completely different things. W&W is first and foremost an industry show for industry people.
BWD, similar to the Windup shows are consumer oriented shows.