The Six O’Clock: A Preview of the Toronto Timepiece Show
Around the world, watch fairs are becoming essential for independents and micro brands to connect with collectors and enthusiasts. And now the T-Dot is finally getting a show of its own.
By Rhonda Riche
Editor-At-Large
Full disclosure: I am enamoured with my hometown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I love the food and the culture – I even adore public transit (although I reserve the right to complain about it).
But from Friday, September 27th to the 29th, the city will become even sweeter with the first-ever Toronto Timepiece Show. We talked to founder Jason Hutton about the rising importance of these regional events and what’s in store for this inaugural event.
Behind-the-Scenes
The driving force behind the Toronto Timepiece Show is Jason Hutton. Hutton is not only a watch fan but also the founder of Zenea Watches, which launched in 2020 with the Ula Diver Time and Space – a Canadian-designed, Swiss-made timepiece with a dial made from the Muonionalusta meteorite.
A big part of Hutton’s attraction to timepieces comes from the industry’s history and its connection to the communities. Locally, the two most common ways for enthusiasts and brands to meet up are through collector groups (like RedBar) or invite-only in-store events. However, Hutton found that one of the most immediate ways for indie brands to meet with potential buyers face-to-face was through smaller watch expos like The Windup Watch Fair.
Unfortunately, when Hutton began looking for such expos in Canada, as far as anyone could remember, there has only been one such event – the Salon de Montréal in 2019. And Montreal is almost 550 km away from Toronto. So, Hutton took it upon himself to make his own fun.
It was a Herculean effort, involving the complex coordination of resources and an incredible amount of time convincing brands and speakers to sign up for an unknown event. Luckily, Hutton’s superpower is making those connections. It also helps that there is a small but supportive community of micro and independent brands in Canada.
The first person to commit to a booth was Ryan Moran – and 2024 Watchonista 30 Under 30(ish) honoree – of Hamilton, Ontario, microbrand Locke & King. “I’ll be forever grateful for that,” Hutton told Watchonista.
Other Canadians representing include Héron, Marathon, and Wilk Watchworks.
Moreover, many Canadian-based but internationally notable horological personalities, such as artists Dan Tanenbaum (@watchpartsmotorcycles) and Julie Kraulis (@juliekraulis), storyteller Dan Mann (@thedansome), author and photographer Brent Robillard (@calibre321), collector Tyler Frederick, and The Grey NATO co-host James Stacey (along with his US-based podcast partner Jason Heaton), will all be in attendance.
Cross Border
Another important thing to note is that Hutton did not just want to introduce locals to Canadian brands; he also wanted the Toronto Timepiece Show to showcase Canada to the rest of the world.
“Toronto is a very international city with a very large population and large watch enthusiast community,” Hutton told us. “Fairs have become much more important to the smaller brands because fairs give them a base to work from.” And he is definitely not wrong.
We emailed the folks at luxury Japanese watch brand Minase, another of the show’s vendors, about why they committed to the Toronto Timepiece Show, and they told Watchonista: “This is the very first time Minase Watches will be presented in Canada. We are excited to show our beautiful watches in Toronto next week.” And fans can’t wait to see Minase’s handcrafted Urushi dials up close and personal.
One of the first international brands to sign on was Isotope, a staunch supporter of indie watch fairs. The excitement continued to build when GPHG winner Christopher Ward was announced as a vendor. Still, Hutton continued to court his wish list of brands, even travelling to Geneva during Watches and Wonders 2024 to meet with watchmakers personally.
It helped that Hutton is an extremely likable person, but more importantly, one of the key selling points was that the Toronto Timepiece Show was not a one-and-done event. “I let it be known that I wanted to do it every year,” Hutton explained.
In fact, as Hutton irons out the final details of the Toronto Timepiece Show, he is already deep in the planning for the Vancouver Timepiece Show, to be held April 25-27, 2025.
Location, Location, Location!
In all, over 40 brands share their wares at the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Toronto, including fan favourites such as Oris, Fears, Studio Underd0g, Baltic, Brew, Atelier Wen, and Vario. It will also be a good opportunity for enthusiasts to discover lesser-known watchmakers as well as strap makers and watch repair experts.
Even if you aren’t in the market for a new wristwatch, events like the Toronto Timepiece Show are always an interesting sociological exercise. So, the people-watching will also be epic.
While we can’t say if local watch aficionado Drake will be in attendance, Toronto’s proximity to Ottawa, Buffalo, New York, and Detroit, Michigan is a big draw for out-of-town visitors. The Toronto Timepiece Show website has a list of fun things to do in the city. Plus, if you’re a RedBar member, there will be off-site activities in the evening.
The Toronto watch community is a friendly and welcoming one, and the list of brands Hutton has curated speaks to the personality of the people wearing that wear them, whether they were hip-hop kids from Scarborough or Mississauga millionaires with connections to luxury ADs (but still support smaller brands).
According to Hutton, all are welcome, “and I want them to keep coming back every year.”
For a full list of participants and to register for free tickets (if there are any left), visit the Toronto Timepiece Show.