Preview: Late-Summer/Fall 2025 Watch Fairs
Before the high season of summer holidays and Ferragosto sweeps us away in Aperol dreams and seaside escapes, the watch industry’s most active season is nearly upon us, so if you want your watch fair schedule to be as precise as a co-axial escapement, consider this your heads-up.
By Ash Longet
PR & Business Development
It’s clear that watches have transcended simple showcase mechanics; they are hybrid cultural and economic engines. What was once worn to catch a train or track cooking time (or dive time or lap time) is now worn to say something – to express taste, discretion, nostalgia, even rebellion.
The mechanical watch is a marvel of obsolescence: beautifully useless, gloriously anachronistic, and precisely for those reasons, beloved. In that transformation, it has become what many modern objects can claim to be but few actually are – a carrier of meaning.
That is why these watch fairs matter. Not because they announce the next must-have complication or dial shade, although they do, but because they affirm that horology remains a living conversation.
Watch Week Aspen: August 7th to 10th
The season opens in Colorado, where Watch Week Aspen has quickly become the Western half of the US’s most elegant gathering of enthusiasts, brands, and journalists.
Hosted by Oliver Smith Jeweler and its partners, Meridian Jewelers and Betteridge, the event combines outdoor lifestyle with high horology. Participating brands include A. Lange & Söhne, Arnold & Son, Bremont, Glashütte Original, Norqain, Gerald Charles, and Moritz Grossmann.
Geneva Watch Days & “Watch Makers” Exhibition: September 4th to 7th
The late-summer Geneva Watch Days gathering reaffirms its value as the leaner, looser sibling to the once-stately SIHH. Here, brands like Bulgari, MB&F, and Ulysse Nardin welcome guests into lakeside suites rather than exhibition halls.
Yet it’s the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie’s “Watch Makers” exhibition on the Pont de la Machine that elevates 2025’s edition.
With free entry and interactive scenography, the exhibit demystifies the 40 métiers of watchmaking – from polishing to precision adjustment – offering the public a backstage pass into the soul of Swiss craft.
Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair: September 2nd to 6th
Leaving Europe for a moment, Hong Kong’s Watch & Clock Fair underscores Asia’s enduring role in the global watch economy.
A hybrid event of sourcing fair and innovation showcase, it offers a massive commercial platform for OEMs, independents, and tech-forward players. For the region’s suppliers, it’s a vital artery.
After Time 2025 by Milano Watch Week: October 3rd to 6th
This year, After Time 2025 returns as the sole event under the Milano Watch Week umbrella, ditching the traditional fair format in favor of something more cultural and conversational.
Held across civic venues like the Rotonda del Pellegrini, it brings together indie brands such as Serica, Furlan Marri, Oris, and M.A.D. Editions, many priced accessibly under €10,000, in a design-led setting.
Economically, it taps into Milan’s creative engine. Culturally, it signals a shift: from product to perspective, from selling to storytelling.
Dubai Watch Week: November 19th to 23rd
Finally, the most globally ambitious of them all, Dubai Watch Week blends scale, accessibility, and education like no other.
With 90+ brands, hands-on workshops, panels, and public installations, it continues to democratize haute horlogerie while expanding its Middle Eastern roots.
Here, horology isn’t niche – it’s vibrant and public-facing.
