5 things to remember from the Geneva Watch Days
The first watchmaking event of the fall, the recently concluded trade show provided an opportunity to take the pulse of the industry. It featured the worst—the surge in US tariffs—and the best—watches, technology, and ideas.
From September 4th to 7th, the strong watchmaking presence (66 brands) and attendance (17,000 visitors) made these Geneva Watch Days (GWD) a success. It was in a surprisingly joyful atmosphere that the sector made its return to the Geneva show. However, Swiss Made is struggling as the 39% import tariffs in the United States came into effect on August 7th. A more than tense context, but watchmaking demonstrated its resilience during this edition through its creativity, dynamism, and technological innovations.
The world of Swiss Made was waiting for a verdict, or rather a miracle, regarding the 39% additional customs duties applied by Donald Trump's America to Swiss productions. These surcharges, which came into effect on August 7, were therefore the subject of conversation at dinner parties for discerning collectors and the suites of Geneva's palaces transformed, for a few days, into showrooms. However, "if the context could have suggested a difficult return to work for the industry, the opposite happened in Geneva during this first week of September," said Jean-Christophe Babin, president of the Geneva Watch Days Association and CEO of the Bulgari group. The show, one of the most creative watchmaking events of the year, also demonstrated the dynamism of the sector, particularly that of independent watchmakers, with the presence of nearly 1,900 professionals, including 300 retailers and 500 media and influencers.
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Skip the adIn line with the "Quiet luxury" phenomenon observed in recent months in fashion—namely, quality products, without logos and discreet—some watch brands are returning to a chic and understated aesthetic. Such as Dennisson, a venerable British house recently relaunched, which called upon the famous designer Emmanuel Gueit (whose first feat was designing the Royal Oak Offshore for Audemars Piguet in 1993). The Swiss designer has thus created a vintage-inspired luxury watch, with clean lines and a hard stone dial with a seventies feel (in aventurine, lapis lazuli, malachite, or tiger's eye) named ALD Dual Time for its dual time zone. In addition to its charm, the model is attractive for its affordable price (790 euros), Dennisson having opted for a quartz movement. On the wrist, the model rivals in style with pieces thirty times more expensive... Some find a family resemblance with vintage Piaget watches, no doubt because Emmanuel Gueit takes after his father who was the designer!
Another revelation at the show was Beda'a, the young Qatar-based brand led by a brilliant thirty-year-old from Jordan and Palestine, Sohaib Maghnam. Its Éclipse 2 has been shortlisted for the upcoming Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de la Ville de Genève, while its new Blue Angles, with its lacquered dial and octagonal shape, echoes the brand's founding philosophy: reinterpreting Arabic architecture in the world of watchmaking. Produced in around a hundred pieces per year, this young designer's creations combine a 37mm steel case and Swiss quartz movement, for a price under €5,000.
Quiet luxury, Gérald Genta could have invented it! The most cult of watch designers, the father of the Royal Oak, the Nautilus and the Pasha, passed away in 2011, but the brand he founded was acquired and relaunched in 2023 by the watchmaking entity La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. The latter took advantage of these Geneva Watch Days to unveil a magnificent Minute Repeater at a no less remarkable price - 350,000 euros. Inspired by a 1982 model, this haute horlogerie creation was refined by a talented trio: Matthieu Hegi, artistic director of the house, with Enrico Barbasini and Michel Novas, the two legendary master watchmakers behind this "Fabrique". While the complexity and clarity of its chime fascinated lovers of complications, the pure design of its case with two polished yellow gold gadroons and its onyx dial literally won over the fair's female guests. And that's not so common!
The centuries-old know-how of watchmaking is often praised as a fine craft. But a new century calls for new methods! Thus, TAG Heuer took advantage of the Geneva show to introduce a futuristic oscillator to its Carrera chronographs (€41,500) and its Monaco (€17,700), produced in a limited edition of 50. Made of carbon composite, it benefits from the atomic-scale technology, TH-Carbonspring, developed by the Tag Heuer Lab: in a high-temperature chamber, hydrocarbon gases decompose at a temperature between 600 and 850°C on a layer of metal catalyst; this controlled reaction makes it possible to build, atom by atom, a three-dimensional carbon component. The resulting balance spring is thus antimagnetic—the Holy Grail of watchmaking—shock-resistant, and offers exceptional chronometry.
Ulysse Nardin's Freak [X Crystalium] (€42,350), produced in a limited edition of 50, features a dial that looks like a gold nugget. Its rotating hour disc is made of Crystalium, a material composed of ruthenium, a metal ten times rarer than platinum renowned for its robustness and brilliance. To create it, the ruthenium undergoes a slow, controlled process of crystallization by vapor deposition—similar to the formation of frost on a window. This complex process, the result of several years of refinement, generates natural, geometric crystalline structures that are impossible to reproduce identically.
Soon, when it comes to watches, we'll no longer say "made in China," but "made by China." Two letters that change everything! The Middle Kingdom has long collaborated with Swiss Made by producing certain components. Now, it's moving upmarket, just as it's beginning to do in fashion and jewelry. Thus, new Chinese haute horlogerie houses are claiming quality and creativity that rival those from the high continent. This is the case of Behrens, founded in 2012 in Shenzhen, which made a big splash in Geneva with a high-flying limited edition designed by one of the pioneers of contemporary independent watchmaking, Vianney Halter. Until now, Behrens' ultra-light watches could be seen in France on the wrist of YouTuber Clément Entretemps, and purchased at his Parisian Watch Gallery.
Now, the brand is taking a step forward with a Master Collection KWH featuring an industrial design inspired by vintage electricity meters. The time display is based on a patented mechanical ruby micro-chain system: a "pixelated snake" composed of seven points continuously rotates around the dial. The hand-wound BM06 caliber has 870 components and includes a temperature compensation system, ensuring the stability of the micro-chain mechanism regardless of the environment. Each version, in white gold or rose gold, is limited to nine pieces, for a price of around 50,000 euros.
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