Geneva Watch Days 2025 Was Full of Delicious Wrist Candy

Have you ever watched The Wolf of Wall Street? Remember Jean Dujardin’s cameo as the Swiss banker? That scene gave a glimpse of Geneva’s mystique. This week, the city itself was the stage, its blazon and Geneva Watch Days flags flying over the Mont-Blanc bridge to mark one of the most anticipated events in horology.

“Vivez l’horlogerie autrement” , Live watchmaking differently, is the ethos of Geneva Watch Days (GWD), which ran from September 4–7. Born in 2020, mid-pandemic, GWD was created to keep watchmaking alive when the world stood still. 

As Catherine Eberle, Director of GWD, puts it: “It’s an adventure forged by resilience and a shared vision.” GWD President Jean-Christophe Babin adds: “Open, bold, innovative, this is the philosophy of GWD. It’s spontaneous, welcoming, and unpretentious.”

The format is just that: intimate, modern, and unmistakably Genevan. Unlike the big fairs, GWD takes over the city itself. La Rotonde du Mont-Blanc and its Glassbox Pavilion are the epicenter, positioned in front of the Jet d’Eau, where 65 brands showed their latest creations. 

Inside the Glassbox, the official GWD Culture Center staged symposiums, brunches, and reviews with the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, while Phillips hosted auctions in support of the École d’Horlogerie de Genève. It’s as much about fostering the next generation of watchmakers as it is about unveiling novelties.

And the novelties didn’t disappoint. Here’s what stood out as I made my way across Geneva:

• Jacob & Co. came in loud, as expected. The Astronomia Revolution spins like a galaxy every 60 seconds. It’s pure theater on the wrist. The World is Yours dual-time is more restrained but just as ambitious, with continents hand-sculpted in deep blue and rose gold. Jacob doesn’t do subtle, and that’s exactly the point.

• De Bethune stayed celestial. The DB25xs Starry Varius with its burgundy dial and gold-flecked Milky Way feels like holding a piece of the night sky. Poetic, precise, and unmatched,  probably my favorite of the fair.

• L’Epée 1839 surprised with the TF35 Rust in Time. A racing car reimagined with aged patina, airbrushed into something closer to sculpture than clock. Shown in a Ritz salon under theatrical lighting, it proved horology can double as performance art.

• Xhevdet Rexhepi reminded me why collectors call him a prodigy. The Purple Minute Inerte looks deceptively simple until you see the openwork at 6. Every line deliberate, every polish exact. Third in the series after pale blue and green, and maybe the most striking yet.

• Furlan Marri dug into vintage with the Disco Onyx Diamonds. Onyx dial, baguette indexes, pure cocktail-era glamour from a young brand. Retro on the surface, but endlessly modern in execution.

• MB&F x Yinka Ilori was joy incarnate. The M.A.D.1S collaboration bursts with color, pattern, and play. “Grow your dreams” spins on the rotor like a mantra. Meticulous in build, poetic in message, exactly what happens when fine watchmaking collides with bold art.

Geneva Watch Days isn’t just another trade show. It’s a city-wide immersion into the art, innovation, and culture of modern watchmaking. Alongside Milan Watch Week, Monaco Watch Week, and the juggernaut of Watches and Wonders, GWD has cemented itself as one of Europe’s key fairs.

What’s next? 

If the last few years are any indication, expect even more independents to shine, more boundaries to blur between art and horology, and more moments where Geneva itself feels less like a city and more like a watchmaker’s open studio.