I’ll admit it, Geneva Watch Days is one of my favourite times in the city. It’s when our industry reunites after a long, heatwave-themed summer to meet friends from all corners of the watch world and get hands-on with the latest pieces from some of the hottest and most interesting brands. And that’s the thing about this summer show: while Watches & Wonders draws our attention to the larger players, Geneva Watch Days lets us take a breather, slow this rapidly moving industry right down, and spend time with watches and brands of all sizes. Don’t get me wrong, Bvlgari, Zenith, Daniel Roth, Girard Perregaux, MB&F, and Breitling attend, but its city-centered format and later date on the calendar mean there’s much more time to see smaller names and discover new ones.
The 2026 edition set a new record with 71 participating brands, unveiling nearly 400 new releases. More than 2,500 private clients, collectors, and watch enthusiasts attended, alongside more than 500 international media and content creators. However, this year’s edition drew 15,000 people in total, down from last year’s peak of 17,000.
News from the brands exhibiting was certainly plentiful and felt increasingly significant compared to previous iterations of the show (Breitling’s House of Brands used the show to unveil Gallet to the world, and MAD Editions by MB&F announced the MAD 3 – more on those in a moment). Yet on more than one occasion, conversations centered around how the show felt a little quieter than previous years. The numbers do highlight a 2,000-person discrepancy from 12 months ago, though I believe there’s more to the story here, as Geneva Watch Days felt a lot more efficiently run this year. More hotels took part, the pavilion built for the show was opened up, and some brands even took appointments the day before the show technically started. These changes, combined with the growing prevalence of localized watch weeks in seemingly every city, created a more streamlined, less chaotic experience for those of us appointment-hopping.
For in-depth details and information on all of the key releases from the show, you’ll want to look through the site to read the specific articles for each launch, but in the meantime, here’s a first-person perspective of Geneva Watch Days 2026, with lots of first-hand moments as well as plenty of watch spottings from old friends and new.
Dennison showed an array of bold pieces as part of their Dennison Atelier offering, giving clients the opportunity to order a custom watch all featuring natural diamonds.
They also had a wide selection of their Mini, seen here with an Opal dial.
Alto is a brand I’ve wanted to get hands on with for some time now, and this, the new ART 02 in 36mm didn’t disappoint. Andy even selected it as his watch of the show.
Zenith dropped the Chronomaster Solo Sport in three colours: brown, black, and white.
A three-hander, El Primero-powered, 200m water-resistant watch – we might have a new seriously interesting diving watch option on our hands here.
The M.A.D. 3 was on the lips of everyone, and rightfully so.
Geneva Watch Days was the moment Gallet officially returned and even a Gallet branded Bronco made an appearance.
As did Georges Kern during the official conference marking the brand’s return.
Before an early hands-on session with all of the new pieces.
The Classics line was my personal favourite, especially this stunning Yachting Big Eye.
Followed by the Multichron 45.
Outside of the Classics, the Flying Offer in Orange will turn heads, especially for $2,900 USD.
Lydia Winters was spotted with the remarkable Credor Locomotive (and her Leica SL2).
Johnny Davis from Esquire, on the other hand, was rocking the amazing Baltic x SpaceOne ‘Seconde Majeure.’
Watch journalist legend Elizabeth Doerr had this amazing Gérald Genta jump hour with diamonds and a mother-of-pearl dial. Elizabeth tells me she bought this watch recently at auction, as she remembers falling in love with it when it first came out but couldn’t afford it then, and wanted a way to honour her encounters with Gerald Genta himself.
Vintage watch authority and local legend in Geneva, Roy Davidoff from Roy & Sacha Davidoff S.A., with a super unusual Parmigiani Fleurier Ovale Hebdomadaire ‘André Paris’, limited to only 10 pieces.
Gérald Genta was up next with the newest edition of the Minute Repeater: the Golden Obsidian.
Such a remarkable wrist presence.
They also displayed special pieces from the Genta archive, including this amazing perpetual-calendar pocket watch with an Opal moonphase.
Ming introduced their new 57.05 ‘Comet’ Worldtime—a piece that solves the issue of daylight saving being observed in certain countries but not others with a genius yet simply sliding bezel.
Triple stepped lugs only, please.
Remember their mind-bending 3D-printed titanium bracelet? Well, it’s back, and this time in tantalum. And yes, it’s incredible.
From one very specific slice of design to another, my long-awaited first hands-on time with Naoya Hida didn’t disappoint.
The fully hand-engraved dials here are a sight to behold, especially on the GPHG-nominated NH Type8A (I tried so incredibly hard to not try and take this home with me).
Naoya Hida explained in great detail about every single element of his watches, with seemingly endless decision-making behind them – he tells me that the logo sizing and placement alone took 6 months to perfect.
In my opinion, the only comparable watches that have the same level of significant feeling in the hand are mid-century Pateks.
Soirées in Geneva always include wrist spotting, including Stephane Cheikh, Managing Director of Dennison, wearing the new ALD Elements.
Ruben Tomella, founder of Gaga Milano, wore the coolest necklace of the week.
Emily Marsden went for the Vacheron Overseas with the blue dial and the matching blue rubber.
Scarlett Baker, on the other hand, went all out with the Gerald Genta Rose Gold Oursin in Burgundy.
Cameron Barr from Craft and Tailored kept it unbelievably classic with the Patek 570.
The Beau Rivage was very much the centre of activity for the week.
And inside, Bremont announced easily my favourite watch from their collection: The Terra Nova Jumping Hour in Burgundy and, crucially, 35mm wide.
While Girard-Perregaux expanded on its winning Laureato Fifty line with the Laureato Fifty Tourbillon.
Laurent Ferrier followed a similar path of building upon previous collections with the Classic Moon Dusk.
Over at Daniel Roth, a new Extra Plat dropped in rose gold.
With a beautiful black gilt dial – my winner of the show, in fact.
Cavasino is a relatively new independent brand, and this latest model combined an opal dial with a forged Carbonium case.
And a new finish to its DCR-01 tourbillon calibre.
James McVey was rocking a 1940s Universal Geneve Compax.
While at the same event, someone brought some serious heat with the 6159G.
Following the success of his Prehistoric collection, the founder of Anoma, Matteo Violet-Vianello, wore a prototype A1 that featured a half-engraved stainless steel case with a hand-engraved, naturally oxidised copper dial.
Frederique Constant continued its hot streak with the Classics Moneta, now with a manual wind movement.
Five New Louis Vuitton Tambour Spin Time models were announced in the week following Geneva Watch Days.
Including the wild sapphire set piece with its opal dial, not to be missed is the sapphire setting around the very edge of the bezel.
Bvlgari set up an exhibition during the show, including a mini scaled down version of one of their manufacture locations.
Here’s one hell of a double-wrist spot: the Bvlgari x MB&F Serpenti pairedwith the Vacheron 222 in steel.
And how about this wrist spot from a Swedish brand called ECA? This Mytilus model is sealed by twenty-one individual gaskets for serious water resistance and finished in an anodised, bead-blasted surface.
Over on the other side of town, Swiss-based watch dealer Jojo La Montre held a pop-up store to show some of his pieces.
If you want fun, affordable, often NOS vintage watches from the heart of Switzerland, this is the place to be.
Do you like watches?
It’s the type of selection you’ll likely never see again and it won’t break the bank.
The brand tells me they have delivered some of the earliest orders during the week of the show in Geneva.
Universal Genève also hosted meetings to allow people to get hands-on with some of the pieces announced earlier this year.
The stone dial Polerouters are sure to be hits.
And this bracelet? Total showstopper.
See previous caption.
A fan favourite will be the 37mm Polerouter in steel. It really does everything right.
But these two, the Disco Volante and Dioramic as part of the Signature collection might be my personal favourites.
Closely followed by the Cabriolet.
I mean, come on.
The ¾ sized rotor of the Polerouter is a welcome upgrade that still honours the past.
Back on the streets of the Old Town, I bump into @thepalewrist with the Chronomètre Artisans from Simon Brette on the amazing Prisma Cobra bracelet. Paired with some extra fun ring watches.
Fleming co-founder, James Kong, with the Series 1 Mark II Pacific Fleming.
A Xhevdet Rexhepi Minute Inerte with the purple dial, spotted in the wild (kinda). Only in Geneva.
The Dennison Mini with the Black Onyx dial.
A Corum Rolls Royce ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ was an unexpected yet welcomed spot on the wrist of Rémi Le Plomb of heist-out.
The Daniel Roth Extra Plat Skeleton in Rose Gold.
My last, and by no means least, meeting of the trip was to Berneron to check out the newly announced Mirage Miroir.
And with it came the new bracelet.
Something that’ll also fit existing Mirage large-sized models.
If you know Geneva, you know about the ultimate smash burger spot, Pretty Patty, seemingly now also a hot spot for wrist spotting thanks to this Petermann Bédat 1967 Second Series.
It’s hard nowadays to talk about the Elegante and not talk about how the market for these pieces has skyrocketed.
Furlan Marri has always held a soft spot in many people’s hearts, and in the streets of Geneva that’s even more the case.
Andersen Genève CEO, Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann, wearing the simply beautiful Jumping Hours Rising Sun.
Dillon Bhatt almost always has something on his wrist worth looking at, and this time it was his Journe Octa Réserve de Marche.
Before heading to the airport, there was just enough time to explore the main pavilion where people could check the accuracy of their watches thanks to COSC being on site.
Also while checking the rating pressure.
And with that, it’s a wrap.
