Time to Watches, a watch fair with an informal approach and 88 brands, is celebrating its fifth edition. The big lift for this fair came when it in 2025 moved to Villa Sarasin, which is literally a few steps away from the fair. This mansion from the 1830s, which previously was owned by the fair to serve as an event space complimentary to the Palexpo itself, was in 2024 transferred to the town of Grand-Saconnex. And this was when a group of entrepreneurs spearheaded by Time to Watches Managing director Christian Wipfli saw the opportunity: To give small brands the geographical possibility to be visited by everybody that goes to the big mothership of Geneva Watch Week; Watches and Wonders.
Over the decades there has been several attempts to organize an alternative for independent brands in Geneva in tandem with the big show. But failing visitor numbers, mainly thanks to non-obvious locations in between the city and the airport, or simply thanks to not enough interesting exhibitors, however made most such attempts rather short lived. But now with an ideal location, the number of exhibitors has been growing continuously, and to my understanding it is now the world’s largest independent fair when it comes to numbers of exhibitors. Worth noting is also that the success of Time to Watches is now also spreading to other parts of the world. May 2026 will see the first US edition in Las Vegas.
Among the exhibitors in Geneva 2026 you will find an incredible diversity of brands, for instance affordable Ba111od, super-high-end Krayon, design-oriented Junghans, racing-related material explorer Lorige, historical Edox, vintage-reviving Nivada Grenchen, and viking-inspired GoS. If you visit the website for a full exhibitor list you will see proof of a fair offering an environment where volume brands coexist with haute horlogerie brands making a handful of watches per year; a fair where contemporary indie darlings rub shoulders with old resurrected brands.
“We’re almost there. The show kicks off in three days, and we’re really looking forward to discovering the latest form 88 brands,” said Christian Wipfli about the diversity, before adding something important about the event which also offers cocktails and other gatherings towards the end of the day.
“This edition promises to deliver on all fronts: Time to Watches is also about enjoying a true village atmosphere designed for real experiences in a relaxed setting.”
